In the middle of May I was able to go to the Aurora Colony in Aurora, Oregon to honor Emma Geisy. She is a distant cousin of mine. Jane Kirkpatrick, one of my favorite authors, has written a series of books about Emma and the Aurora Colony. She gave a lecture about her writing and then we visited the Aurora Cemetery and went to the Keil House for a dessert. Jane's lecture was very inspirational. Then we went to the cemetery and listened to stories about Emma and her family and other colony members.

Her oldest son became a very well known surgeon in Portland at OHSU.

This is Emma's mother's headstone. She is my great-great-grandfather's sister. I feel a connection with Emma even though my ancestors went to Utah instead of Oregon. If you are ever near Aurora you really should visit the museum and then shop at all the incredible antique stores. The museum has many quilts and artifacts from colony life. These people contributed greatly to the establishment of Oregon. I have to mention the quilts, again. Every Tuesday morning the women get together at the museum and hand quilt. The quilts that are on display are incredible. There is even one made by Emma. Jane wrote a book about the Colony and it's quilts. It is entitled Aurora: an American Experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft. It is a fantastic look at history.