Happy Birthday Ed/ Blue Monday/ Beautiful Wedding

Happy birthday July 5th to my older brother Edward J. Kocman Jr., He should have been a firecracker, according to my mother. She said someone threw down one of those old fashioned firecrackers called a chaser and it started to chase her around the yard. Later that Fourth of July 1946 she went into labor and my big brother was born after midnight so he was a post firecracker baby!

My brother Eddie looks like he knows the camera caught him. He must be about a year old because he is walking !

My big brother with a pensive look about him. At an early age I  think my brother knew he was meant for great stuff! He is an engineer and my folks were always very proud of all the various projects he worked on throughout the years.

When my brother was small cowboys were popular T.V. heroes, the likes of Roy Rogers. I never had a portrait on the horse and when I asked my older sister why she said the poor horse probably died by the time I was born. All my siblings and many of my older cousins all had their picture taken on the horse.

My siblings prior to my birth. I am guessing by their ages that I was on the way. Mary is five years older than I am, Ed is seven, Bill fourteen and Pat was sixteen years older than me. My grandmother Steblay's home is in the background. The folks lived with Grandma Steblay early in their marriage until Ed was born and that was the year my dad built our home.

My brother Ed was one of those Math smart people. When I was in parochial school a teacher once asked me, "Why aren't you like your brother?" I replied, "Because I am me and he is my brother."In high school I had a history teacher, Mr. John Kogovsek who once told me I should be more like my brother Ed. They attended high school together. I told him that would never happen, I love writing and reading and my brother loved Math. Enough said.

This is mom and dad with my oldest sister Pat and oldest brother Bill. I often think back to my poor mother and what a saint she truly was. Daddy worked so hard and she did too raising us while he spent countless hours working in the rail mill at the CF&I. If you notice this photo of my brother Bill he constantly has an ornery look on his face and in his eyes! His face says to me" When I am done taking this picture I'm going to get into some mischief! My sister Pat was the apple of our dad's eye, she was his number child, the first daughter, the first child! Boy oh boy was she bossy! I miss her so much each and every day. She was a wonderful mother, a terrific grandmother and she would be over the moon to see her precious great grand daughter Paisley Joe.  Pat always said God gave her the best five sons in the world and she would get her girls in her grandchildren! She was not kidding. Her grand daughters include Racheile, Shelby and McKenzie. Joe is her grandson and when he was a small boy he spent his time with my sister and her husband Gary. They loved him so much and they devoted their lives to him. He was their number one too! Joe was married last Sunday to pretty Jessica in Florida and if my sis was alive today she would be doing back flips with Gary over this young man and his beautiful bride and their little darling Paisley Joe. They would equally love Jessica's two children Hannah and Jeremiah. My sister would be smiling from ear to ear and my brother-in-law would never stop talking about them and how special there are and how smart and talented each child is. That is how they were. So sissy,  if you are watching from heaven here is a little peek of the wedding. These photos are used with the permission of Joe and Jessica, because they love their P H A M I L Y too. That's how Bojon's roll, we love our own and we welcome Jessica, Hannah and Jeremiah into our phamily. Love you all!

The wedding party June 28, 2015.

A beautiful wedding share.

Congratulations to these beautiful kids. Pat and Gary, are you smiling down on them ?

As Bojon's we learn early that P H A M I L Y is number two only behind the Lord Himself. Our faith is important and instilled into us at an early age. We learn that love and kindness, sincerity, honesty and being well mannered and well educated makes us appreciate what our parents and grandparents and those before them struggled for to insure a brighter future for all of us.

We were raised by strong willed women, Our fathers  were kind and honest and caring and worked hard and gave us the best life they could possibly give. This is grandma Steblay my mother's mother. As these days go by in the month of July I will be sharing lots of photos. Many of them  are courtesy of my sister Mary who graciously shares her images and her stories with me. She along with cousins Mike Barnett, Kay Samples- Elliott and Mike Deverich are filling in many blanks along the way. Cousins Sammy Cosimano and Juliane Cosimano-Barden , Kay Medved and all our relatives here or sharing in their heavenly home have helped all of us find pieces of our ancestry and have made us closer and more eager to share each little detail we uncover.

My sister Mary and one of her daughters here (Holly).  We have one of the most amazing phamilies ever! Our history is rich with people who struggled and made their way to a better life so those of us here today would be better off. We all are so grateful for them. Bojon's  are resilient, we love to laugh, we love to dance and sing and act silly too. We are smart and beautiful and our hearts are incredibly strong for those we love best. I am eager to keep uncovering our phamilies past and I know those of you who are working on this too are helpful and gracious to share with all of us too. Keep up the good work.  Please visit Sally and the Blue Crew to share all your blues today!

I love hearing all the stories and am going to share many of them here. See you tomorrow and as always  lahko noc