One year ago, we lost Mom. After we celebrated her life, we decided that, as a family, we would continue to get together at least once each year. So my brothers and their wives, and Byron and I, all met in Salt Lake City once again last week for our first annual get-together. What a wonderful reunion!

It was nice that this first get-together was in Salt Lake City. We were able to visit Red Butte Garden and spend time at our memorial bench — our memorial now for both our parents. They both donated their bodies to the University Medical School, so we don’t have a gravesite to visit. Instead, we have a memorial bench in the rose garden of Red Butte Garden, and it couldn’t be a lovelier, more uplifting place to sit and remember them.

During the week, we also enjoyed time at the Natural History Museum, always a favorite; went on long morning walks; hiked around Silver Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon; went out to eat at all our favorite restaurants; visited The King’s English Bookshop; and spent a lot of time reminiscing.

Books are always part of our discussions when we get together as a family.  We shared about books read and then, of course, some of us bought new books. Here’s a bullet list of books discussed and/or purchased during the week.

• On Immunity, by Eula Biss
• Chances Are…, by Richard Russo
• Dark Money, by Jane Mayer
• My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor
• Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer
• Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer
• Furious Hours, by Casey Cep
• Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain
• Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
• Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
• The Sadness of Beautiful Things, by Simon Van Booy
• Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman
• The Natural World: Portraits of Earth’s Great Ecosystems, by Thomas D. Mangelsen

Such a fun week! Good people, good food, good books, and a beautiful location for a reunion. We also decided that next year we’ll meet on the east coast!