Banter And Family “Baby” Talk

Crista Cowan 0:00

What number are you?

Paul Abell 0:01

Ten. You're the youngest? I missed the baby. I'm not okay. I did a lot of people.

Caitlyn Bruns 0:06

Are you the baby though?

Paul Abell 0:07

No, I'm not the baby. Number four is the baby. But I've always my parents always call me the baby.

Season Mission And Kentucky Setup

Meet Paul And Caitlin On The Couch

Beyoncé Tour Leads To Caitlin

Crista Cowan 0:14

You brought that up. I need you to tell me what that means. Stories That Live in Us is a podcast that inspires you to form deep connections with your family, past, present, and future. I'm Crista Cowan, known online as The Barefoot Genealogist. Counting down to the upcoming celebration of America's 250th birthday, you'll meet families from each state whose stories are woven into the very fabric of America. Tales of immigration, migration, courage, and community that remind us that when we tell our stories, we strengthen the bonds that connect us. So join me for season two as we discover from sea to shining sea the stories that live in us. What do Beyoncé's mother, Kentucky, and a genetic scientist have in common? It's not the beginning of a bad joke. It's actually part of today's story. About a year ago, I was on a business trip in Chicago. Now, Ancestry was partnering with Beyoncé's mother on her book tour. She released this fantastic book called Matriarch. She talked all about how she had researched her family history using Ancestry. And so it was very natural for us to be there as part of the book tour. Well, in the marketing department at Ancestry, we have a woman named Caitlyn Bruns who is responsible for strategic partnerships. And so she had been the point person for all of these events. And I got asked to go to that particular event as one of the genealogists to be in the room, helping people make family history discoveries. Ancestry has more than a thousand employees. And so that means that we don't know everybody that works here. We don't often get to work with people unless we're put in situations like that. And so I was standing in that room at that book tour in Chicago, and I got to know Caitlyn a little bit better. She was more than just a name and somebody on the marketing team here at Ancestry. As we got to talking, I realized she had actually come into the marketing department from DNA. She was a genetic scientist who had been part of strategic partnerships for our DNA ops team here at Ancestry for quite a while. And her story was fascinating as she was explaining her career. But then she let it slip that she was from Kentucky. And I was a little bit taken aback because she had no discernible accent at all. And then she started talking about how not only was she from Kentucky, but both her parents were from Kentucky, and all four of her grandparents were from Kentucky. And she has probably one of the deepest Kentucky-rooted family trees that I have ever heard of. So when she started talking about family reunions with her family and some of the stories of her parents, I was so charmed and just knew we had to get her on the episode about Kentucky. Well, when I invited her to do that, she told me that her dad was going to be visiting Utah. And wouldn't it be fun if we could get him in the podcast studio with her to tell his stories? And let me tell you, Mr. Paul Abel sounds like he's from Kentucky. And maybe Caitlyn does a little bit too, as she sits next to him on the couch and talks about their family stories. Enjoy my conversation with Paul Abel and Caitlyn Bruns. Well, I'm so excited you're both here. I have a special spot in my heart for father-daughter relationships. And you guys are the first to be on our couch as two guests. So super excited about that. Caitlyn, let's start with you. I would love to hear what it was like growing up in your family. So tell us a little bit about just your family and your growing up years.

Caitlyn Bruns 4:19

Yeah, so grew up in Kentucky. We were about an hour or so for my grandparents, both sets. So it was always really nice to be able to go back and see one side of the family and the other side of the family at the same time. A little bit of different dynamics given that my dad is one of ten and my mom is only one of three. So a little bit of different uh decibels when you when you showed up at the house.

Crista Cowan 4:45

I love that. And how many of you are there?

Caitlyn Bruns 4:49

Only one of me. Okay. Yes. So no siblings. No siblings, and I only have one daughter.

Crista Cowan 4:54

So and did you live in the same place your whole growing up years, or did you move around that community?

Caitlyn Bruns 5:01

Um, we moved a little bit, but pretty much the same place. Like I went to the same school system all the way through. Okay. Well, there you go. Paul, glad you're here.

Paul Abell 5:11

For having me.

Crista Cowan 5:12

Excited to hear a little bit more about you, and I'm gonna ask you a question that I ask a lot of people. Can you tell me the story of how you met Caitlyn's mother?

Paul Abell 5:21

Believe it or not, it was in genetics class.

Crista Cowan 5:24

What?

Paul Abell 5:25

Yes. She was taking it as a graduate class. I was taking it as an undergraduate.

Crista Cowan 5:33

We met her. I love that. How old were you? Twenty-three. Okay, and is she the same age?

Paul Abell 5:39

No, she was had a little age on me.

Crista Cowan 5:42

Okay. A little? How many is a little?

Paul Abell 5:45

Uh about five.

Crista Cowan 5:46

Okay.

Paul Abell 5:47

Yeah. She was she's five years older than me.

Caitlyn Bruns 5:50

Okay, I love that. But y'all knew each other's siblings.

Paul Abell 5:53

We yes. I played softball with with her brother. Okay. And then my s I have a sister, there's ten of us. So I had a sister her age, and I seen her in the uh, they was on the drill team together, which I didn't pay any attention, you know, then or whatever. But uh but yeah, and then Lynn Doug, her her uh my wife's uh brother played softball together, so uh got to know her dad through that way.

Crista Cowan 6:22

So you knew the family?

Paul Abell 6:24

I knew the family.

Crista Cowan 6:25

Okay, and but because she was older than you, but i it didn't just occur to you to pursue her until you were also older. Exactly. Okay, right. And did you have to pursue her or was it Yeah?

Paul Abell 6:39

There's nothing easy in this world.

Crista Cowan 6:41

Okay. Um how long did you guys date before you got married?

Paul Abell 6:45

About a year and a half.

Crista Cowan 6:46

Okay.

Paul Abell 6:47

Yeah, it wasn't it wasn't long.

Crista Cowan 6:49

Okay.

Paul Abell 6:50

We knew right away. Pretty pretty close. I mean, you know, uh I never had a uh what you call a real girlfriend. So she was it from the Yeah, I I never planned on getting married.

Crista Cowan 7:04

Okay. What's her name? Kathy. Kathy. And how long until Caitlyn came along?

Paul Abell 7:12

Um we got married in eighty six and she was born in eighty eight, so two years.

Crista Cowan 7:18

Okay. I love that. And what is your favorite thing about being a father?

Paul Abell 7:24

Well, just saying what she's accomplished.

Crista Cowan 7:27

I love that. Tell me about your mom. What it like as you watched your parents' relationship growing up. What was that like?

Caitlyn Bruns 7:33

Um, I've always thought it was really good. They always seemed to work pretty well together and kind of balancing who did did what. Um, and they were both always there for me. I mean, I remember dad would usually take me to school and then mom would pick me up from school. Um, so yeah, I it's good.

Crista Cowan 7:54

I love that. And now you have a granddaughter. Oh, yeah. And I have met your granddaughter. She and she loves you. She was so excited that you were coming to visit. Yep. She likes us. She had to tell us all about it. What is your favorite thing to do with her?

Paul Abell 8:12

Really anything, because just watching her reminds me a lot of Caitlyn. So reliving that.

Ten Kids And Tight-Knit Upbringing

Crista Cowan 8:19

Yeah, yeah, I love that. That's beautiful. Um, so one of 10 kids. What was that like?

Paul Abell 8:26

Well, I weighed 154 pounds when I graduated high school. Someone moved out and I gained a little bit.

Crista Cowan 8:35

More food available.

Paul Abell 8:36

Well, yeah, there was more room around the table. But well, and I guess that's why uh I always hung around older people. And probably hence I married somebody older. Because of my older siblings. Yeah. What number are you? Ten. You're the youngest? I missed the baby. The baby. I'm the baby. Oh, okay. I didn't like the baby.

Caitlyn Bruns 8:57

Are you the baby though?

Paul Abell 8:59

No, I'm not the baby. Number four is the baby. But I've always my parents always call me the baby. You brought that up.

Crista Cowan 9:07

I need you to tell me what that means.

Caitlyn Bruns 9:09

I just have all of them have always said that number four is the baby. Daddy's the youngest, uh-huh. But number four is the baby. Okay. That's what I feel like there's a story there.

Paul Abell 9:19

Well, yeah, well, there's a lot of stories.

Crista Cowan 9:22

Are you gonna tell any of them?

Paul Abell 9:24

Well, like if you see my mom's pictures, you've seen him let her dress tail. Uh so he was a momless boy.

Crista Cowan 9:32

Yeah. Okay. Is is he still kinda in his heart?

Paul Abell 9:36

In his heart, but we all of us, yeah.

Crista Cowan 9:38

Pretty much. Oh. Okay. So so tell me about tell me about your parents.

Paul Abell 9:42

Well, my dad served in war too. And uh he um later after work, he became a mailman, and he did that for 28 years. Uh yeah, 29 years, I think. And then he uh he retired and he farmed on the side. So hence that's what we did. We grew 33 acres of the back uh had we raised six hogs every year for our family to eat and two two cows, and we processed her own meat. And anyway, and then my mom, she was staying home mom, and then uh when some of them left the house and got older, she started driving the school bus. She drove the school bus for 16 years, but we was all pretty tight-knit family.

Crista Cowan 10:29

Sounds like that. That's amazing.

Paul Abell 10:30

Yeah.

Crista Cowan 10:31

Caitlyn, do you know the story of how your grandparents met? I don't know how they met.

Paul Abell 10:37

Well, they met on a double date. Uh I ironically, my mom was dating James Sherwood Sanders, and her sister was dating my dad, James Emmanuel Abel. And they some way or the other, they swapped up some way or the other later on. I mean, it didn't work out or whatever.

Crista Cowan 11:03

Sure. So that's that's uh So they met on a devil date while they were with other people.

Paul Abell 11:08

Right. They was with their si those two sisters.

Crista Cowan 11:11

Okay. Now you know. I know. Um tell me about a little bit about your other set of grandparents, Caitlyn.

Caitlyn Bruns 11:20

So um my mom's parents, uh, Mimi and Poppy. Um, my dad was or my grandfather was an electrician, and Mimi was a stay-at-home mom. Um, they're not from Adair County, they're from Cumberland County, right? No, James.

Paul Abell 11:39

Well, uh your dad your granddad is from Cumberland County, and when they built Del Hollow Lake, they run them, you know, the flood, got them out and they redone, and they moved on top of the hill, and then not long after that, they his dad moved to Adair County. And then her grandmother, Joyce uh Lloyd, she's from Russell County, which they all neighbor. They all neighbor um Adair County.

Crista Cowan 12:06

Okay. That's what we're and Russell County is still in Kentucky? Yes. Yeah. There's Russell County in Virginia too, isn't there? Okay. Well that gets confusing.

Paul Abell 12:15

Yeah, it it does. They all they couldn't think of anything else when they came, so they just renamed ever. Okay.

Crista Cowan 12:21

Do you remember the first time you met Kathy's parents?

Paul Abell 12:24

I met her dad at us like I say, I played softball with her brother. Okay. And he was very uh supportive of his children.

Crista Cowan 12:34

And there were three of them?

Paul Abell 12:35

There was three of them. And uh he came to all the Doug's games. So I met him there.

Crista Cowan 12:40

That's amazing. And then what about her mom?

Paul Abell 12:42

Well, her mom, I probably didn't really m meet her to talk to her until me and Kathy started dating.

Crista Cowan 12:49

Yeah. Okay.

Paul Abell 12:50

And we fit right in because she had several eight siblings or so, so Yeah. And they they treated me like a son.

Crista Cowan 12:58

Oh, I love that. And so as you were growing up, Caitlyn, how far apart did your two sets of grandparents live from each other?

Caitlyn Bruns 13:04

Like 20 minutes. Okay. Like very close. So we were like an hour away from them, but they were only 20 minutes from each other. Okay.

Crista Cowan 13:13

Yeah.

Caitlyn Bruns 13:13

So it was very easy to get to go see both sides every time we would go there.

Crista Cowan 13:18

And that's so unique because I think in a lot of families, there's like this like gravitational pull toward one side of the family or the other. So you're in a really unique situation where you have these relationships before you even meet your wife, and then your grandparents living so close together. That's amazing.

Caitlyn Bruns 13:35

And it's kind of funny because on my mom's side, I'm the oldest grandchild. On his side, I'm the youngest grandchild. So I just got to like experience both dynamics.

Crista Cowan 13:46

So does that mean your grandparents, like one set of grandparents, was a lot older than the other, right?

Caitlyn Bruns 13:50

No, they were like basically the same age. It's just that my he's just the youngest. Sure. So his parents were just older by the time they got dormant. Yeah.

Paul Abell 14:01

Just takes a while to get my mom and her grandfather, Gene Hoots, they're only five days. My my mom's five days older than him.

Crista Cowan 14:11

Okay. You know, so Okay. And now you now because the grant the your maternal grandparents lived in a different county, they did they know each other uh before you He was a well-known Kathy's father, Gene Hoots.

Paul Abell 14:26

He was a well-known electrician. So and then he was on the fire department rescue squad. He was very a community oriented person. Yeah. And her his uh wife was also. That's amazing. So everybody knew the Hootses. And I I knew who they was, you know, growing up, but I didn't know them in detail.

Kentucky Roots Back To Maryland

Crista Cowan 14:49

Sure, yeah, that's amazing. So you've got these deep Kentucky roots. How deep do they go?

Paul Abell 14:56

Pretty deep. Yeah.

Crista Cowan 14:59

Walk me through it.

Paul Abell 15:01

Well, they came down there and from Maryland. My side my side did. Came from the Abels came from Maryland and then uh in like before the revolution. Right after the revolution with getting the land grants from the Revolutionary War.

Crista Cowan 15:16

Okay.

Paul Abell 15:17

They settled most of the ones that they came along with the the group they came with was uh Catholics. And they came with the Cats. Oh, from Maryland, let me say that.

Crista Cowan 15:28

From Maryland, yeah.

Paul Abell 15:28

So they came to Rolling Fort, Washington, Nelson, in Marion County. It's called Roland Fort. So that's where the Catholic settlement started or in of course hence Marion County, Maryland, you know.

Crista Cowan 15:42

Yeah.

Paul Abell 15:42

So that's where they got that.

Crista Cowan 15:44

But your family wasn't Catholic.

Paul Abell 15:46

Yes, they were. They were. Oh, my was Catholic. They came with that. And then my uh grandparent that came, uh, for some reason or other he didn't stay at Rolling Fort long. He came over to Casey Creek with with another set of Catholics. Okay. And then we've been there ever since. And then so that was Joshua and uh the third great grandparent. And then on the other side, the one uh other other grandparents. Well, my my to back it up a little bit, my my uh father's mom and dad are third cousins.

Crista Cowan 16:29

Okay.

Paul Abell 16:30

So they came down together, you know.

Crista Cowan 16:33

Cause when you start getting on some of those little creeks and haulers in Kentucky, there's not a lot of people to choose from.

Paul Abell 16:43

You know, and they're Catholic.

Crista Cowan 16:45

They're Catholic and they said a lot of people to choose from because of that, too. Right. Yeah.

Paul Abell 16:49

And so they came down and then the Wethingtons, my mom was a Wellington, and they came came down with them from Maryland.

Crista Cowan 16:59

Okay. So So y'all have been there a long time.

Paul Abell 17:03

Yeah. Um Yeah, like 18, I think about 18, um the earliest was was about uh 1840, 18 18, right after the revolution.

Crista Cowan 17:18

So they're going after their land grants from their service.

Paul Abell 17:20

Yeah.

Crista Cowan 17:21

Okay. Um is that true on your mom's side as well, Caitlin?

Caitlyn Bruns 17:25

Yes. Not all of the the bat the branches, but we're definitely the one uh Revolutionary War person that had the land grant and came over to. Okay.

Paul Abell 17:36

Uh my my wife's side came from North Carolina, Virginia.

Crista Cowan 17:40

Yeah.

Paul Abell 17:41

Mine pretty much strictly come from Maryland, but they all came through on land grants. But they they come, they come down and up. Mine came down and old and old, you know, only but they they settled there. And uh hers was mostly from North Carolina and Virginia.

Genealogy Curiosity And Civil War Myths

Crista Cowan 17:59

Okay. And so what like did you grow up, Caitlin, knowing like this kind of history and some of these stories, or is this something that you've just gotten into since you've worked here?

Caitlyn Bruns 18:11

Um, so dad was doing ancestry when it, you know, ancestry.com when it first came out, when I was in elementary school, um, he had two uncles that were really into it. And kind of the next generation from them was passed on to dad. Okay. You're an OG customer. I love that. When it was on the C D.

Paul Abell 18:37

Yeah, uh C D. Yeah.

Crista Cowan 18:42

That's amazing. So what was the draw? Like, if you've lived in the same place for generations, if you know your family stories, like what was it that you were trying to do?

Paul Abell 18:52

Well, that was a problem. I didn't have a draw for a long time. I had a I had a second, my dad's uh first cousin, my second cousin, he was really into it in this uh Cincinnati Library. He was the librarian there, and he did a lot of genealogy there. And then my uncle Alan Thomas is in Ohio and he did a lot, and they tried to get me interested, like as a child. I've I've got a little uh pedigree, so to speak, of one, you know, earlier and they would give me this and that, and I just I was like, I already know all that and it and but then when she came along and I thought I need to check out and just sort of dig a little deeper. And then lots of times you probably don't know this, but lots of times stories that you think are there, you'll find out a little different. Wow, I and I know you don't you haven't figured that out yet, but you'll and then there'll be some it's that you haven't heard of or whatever, but but uh so tell me oh so I oh I have so many questions.

Crista Cowan 20:02

So tell me, is there like some tall tale in your family that you like grew up hearing or believing that you proved was not true?

Paul Abell 20:10

Well, I mean I'm still pursuing.

Crista Cowan 20:13

Okay.

Paul Abell 20:15

But um the for the for the American uh for the Civil War is one of them. I'll I'll tell this in real quick. The Civil War, uh I supposed I had two great grandpaws that fought one Confederate, one Union. And then my digging, I see that there's both Union. But there's a 10th uh regiment that depending on how you write it down, there's one in Confederate and there's one in Union, but the information I have, you know, I always was told that uh the two great grandparents fought against each other, or you know, not fought against each other, but they're on different sides. Yeah. Uh they went different ways or whatever.

Crista Cowan 21:04

But well, and Kentucky is notorious for that, right?

Paul Abell 21:07

Well, we're we're they're a border state. People neither know or speak, and they brothers fought. There's some cases that actual brothers fought against each other or so. But that that's one or a woman, and there's just a lot of a lot of different stuff that you try to figure out if it's true or not.

Crista Cowan 21:31

So you're so your uncles couldn't get you interested in family history, but you know, the birth of a child will do that, right? Like all of a sudden people have this spark of interest, and now it sounds like that just was all the hook you needed to get into.

Paul Abell 21:44

Yeah, it did it was. And then um, I mean, I just it it's fascinating though, even though they're not really big tails or whatever, you know, just to see and see how they migrated and some of the stuff that they went through to get to who they're at and Well maybe and yeah. It's just pretty interesting.

The Casey Creek Cabin And Heirlooms

Crista Cowan 22:04

I love that. So Caitlin, there's a there's a family cabin, right? Tell me about that.

Caitlyn Bruns 22:10

So his grandparents' house is about a mile from my green and granddaddy's house, his parents' house. And they had passed before I was born, but we'd always go to Green and Granddaddies and he'd say, There's Mim and Papa's house. And um now, since my grandparents have passed, it's been passed on to Daddy. And um it's kind of just a nice place to go. It's right on Casey Creek. Um very pretty scenery around there, but it's actually three cabins, as far as I understand, if this is right, three cabins put together. And the cabins have their own life prior to the house. And one was a post office and one was a general store. All right. And then there's also a smoke house back there. So it's a whole property.

Crista Cowan 23:05

Yeah. Yeah. And so were those buildings moved from somewhere else to the property, or were they always there?

Paul Abell 23:12

The way the way the I understand it they was to get they're in an L shape, the three that were made the house, there's two up front and then there's one behind it, and then the smokehouse is behind it. And it still has the physical outside uh logs. And in 1876, when my great-grandmother, she married the Abel from the Sanders side, they were the ones that owned this at the time. Then they enclosed that the dog trot and all that stuff, you know. They enclosed that and made a L-shaped farmhouse. And it's got the white weatherboarding. You know, it still got the wood weatherboarding on the side. I got I acquired it in 2010 when my dad died. I bought it from my mom. So then I tore all the floors out and put them back in. And when my siblings or whoever comes, they stay there and then I deer hunt. So I go up there and stay. Or sometimes uh when she comes home or whatever, we'll we might stay out there or something. But it's sort of and then now in the last since I retired, when my could take it back a little further, when my grandparents were living, they would be as many as a hundred to her, like at Mother's Day, Father's Day, or Thanksgiving or Christmas. You didn't know who was going to show up. And when I mean a hundred, I'm not I mean a hundred. No, I I'm not estimating, you know. And then uh so over the years it sort of went up to my to my parents, you know, after my grandparents passed. But my dad got it from my grandmother before she died, he bought it off of her. And then uh now, since I've retired, I sort of brought it back up for a family or a community family thing. So I had a big turtle cook. Uh what is a turtle cook? Well, you you know what a snapping turtle is? Uh-huh. Okay. So in the spring.

Crista Cowan 25:19

How big are they?

Paul Abell 25:20

Well, it depends. The biggest one we had wouldn't fit in a five-gallon bucket this year. It was it was about this big.

Crista Cowan 25:26

Oh my goodness.

Paul Abell 25:27

But they range in different you don't want a little one, they don't have much meat on them, but they ra you know, they raise around. So we and then some of my cousins on the Wellington side, we gathered them up and got them ready, and then we had a big turtle cook. We had about a hundred. Do you broil them? Do you barbecue them with two? Well, no, you you sort of cook them like chicken.

Crista Cowan 25:49

Okay.

Paul Abell 25:50

Uh you with your own little we we put them in a uh electric skillet and cooked them until they was almost done, and then you butter them up real good and put them in rentals wrap and put them in the oven for another two hours, about 200 degrees. And then we also had deer, elk, uh rabbit, fish on the side if you want to like turtle.

Crista Cowan 26:16

I've never I've had a lot of things, but I have never had turtle.

Paul Abell 26:19

You need to try.

Crista Cowan 26:20

Apparently.

Paul Abell 26:21

Just don't think about it, it's a turtle, just what you need to try. But anyway, uh so I've sort of sort of redone that. And then like I've got a couple of brothers that hunt, so during deer season we'll stay there. So now it's sort of like um like a family retreat? Family retreat, sort of, or yeah.

Crista Cowan 26:42

Okay.

Paul Abell 26:42

So we've used it for that.

Crista Cowan 26:44

Is that like why did you get it and not any of your other siblings?

Paul Abell 26:50

Well there.

Crista Cowan 26:56

Okay.

Paul Abell 26:57

No, uh, I don't I don't really know. My mom asked me, and before she asked anybody else, I said yes. Yeah.

Crista Cowan 27:04

Do you think maybe it has something to do with the fact that he invites everybody there? Would everybody have been as generous as that? Maybe not. Okay. Maybe, right?

Paul Abell 27:13

Probably sure.

Crista Cowan 27:14

Yeah, I mean, it sounds like you understand the importance of family and you've been involved in family history and you know the stories, and so you understand the significance of that place.

Paul Abell 27:22

Yeah. In a way that maybe they don't all that's that's probably a good way to put it.

Crista Cowan 27:26

Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Are there pictures or other family heirlooms at the at the cabin? Tell me about that.

Paul Abell 27:34

Well, I've just tried uh what I had. Some uh some of the farm equipment used is is uh hanging around, and then uh pictures of different ones, and I'm adding to it all the time, you know. And then some of my siblings will give give me something that maybe they got. I got a rocking chair that my great-grandmother had. And then my dad had a uh quilt that my great-grandmother had that wasn't quilted, and my mom quilted it. And I acquired it off of her. It's a tumbling block tumbling block pattern.

Crista Cowan 28:10

I don't know. I do know what that is.

Paul Abell 28:12

I have several quilts, this but they hang around up there too.

Crista Cowan 28:16

That's amazing.

Paul Abell 28:16

Me and my wife. Well, we don't have as many now 'cause Caitlin and Norley take up uh they get the ones they want. But we have, I don't know, sixty or seventy quilts or something. Wow. We have several that my mom and grandmother that lived there uh quilted themselves, you know.

Crista Cowan 28:36

So That's beautiful.

Paul Abell 28:37

But I have pictures and and just a lot of uh stuff. I had an aunt that didn't marry till she was fifty-one, so she got a lot of the um able stuff. And then later on in her years, she gave it to me. And some of it she gave it to me before I had the house. Yeah. And then after I got it, then she gave me a lot more. She knew I was gonna do something with it, so I put it back in there, you know.

Crista Cowan 29:05

So thoughtful. I love that. Yeah. Um, you know, uh, you grew up an only child, but with these nine older siblings of your dad's, do you know how many first cousins you have? Thirty-two. That you you knew that number right off the top of your head. So even though you're the youngest, did you like have relationships with them as you were growing up?

Caitlyn Bruns 29:26

Oh yeah. Um, there's a lot that are um there's a lot of girls kind of towards the tail end, and they're probably between three and five years older than me. There's four in that range. So I hung out with them a lot, and they'd take me out and you know, I learned some things earlier than maybe some other people would have learned some things. Um but and then I have um a boy cousin, Matt, that came down to western uh Kentucky and went to school, and he would babysit me a lot. Um, and I had a really kind of close relationship with me because he would just take me wherever he was going and I would hang out with him and his friends. And um I really appreciated having that time and he didn't treat me like he was babysitting me, but that's definitely what he was doing.

Crista Cowan 30:25

Nice. And then like with your aunt with your aunts and uncles, you also I assume had relationships with them. Did everybody stay close or did they kind of spread out?

Caitlyn Bruns 30:34

Seven of them stayed very close. And then there's I have an uncle in Texas, uh, aunt in Colorado who went there and stayed after graduating high school. Um, and then an aunt in New York. Okay.

Crista Cowan 30:51

So a few of them have scattered. But uh does anybody like, you know, now that you own this property, it sounds like you have some gatherings together, but has there been another big gathering? Are there plans for a big reunion of everybody?

Paul Abell 31:05

I've had four or five years ago, I had about 100 at Christmas. And then in June, I had 60 or 70. The no siblings that live away, they came in. And it's hard now. People were, you know, and this and that, and they got their own families. But I I had one back in June. Uh and then I planned uh I've already got four scheduled for a neck this coming this coming year. I love that. So and people can come and a lot of them are cousins that come, you know, that live there close still, and uh but are family friends or whatever, or people I grew up with, and a lot of people uh that I grew up with I didn't get to see until actually I had that turtle cup. And then, you know, we reunited or whatever.

Crista Cowan 31:58

And how many of those people you grew up with are you actually related to?

Paul Abell 32:01

Well, I don't know. Yeah. Pretty much everybody up in that Wyoming.

Caitlyn Bruns 32:07

One thing we didn't say is that so I grew up in Bowen Green like an hour away, but my parents now have moved back to Adara County. They're in my mom's parents' house now. So that's why it's easier to have more of these things. Right.

Paul Abell 32:22

That's when I retired, then we remodel, we we acquired her parents' house also. So when then when I retired, we remodeled it and got it fixed.

Caitlyn Bruns 32:34

But it's in town.

Paul Abell 32:35

It's in town. Where she grew up. It's where she grew up. Yeah. It's the house she grew up in. So we live there and then I'm twenty miles from from this.

Crista Cowan 32:44

From the cabin. Yeah. Okay. And what's the name of the town?

Paul Abell 32:48

Columbia, Kentucky.

Crista Cowan 32:49

Columbia.

Paul Abell 32:50

And then the cabin's in Rowley. It used to be called K it was called the post office was Casey Creek, Kentucky. But now the address is Columbia. They the it's closed since I grew up. The the the little uh post office is closed. But getting back to the cabin, William Riley Sanders was the one that uh had the cabins, you know, and then he was the postmaster at this she said that he used to be a post office, sir. He was a postmaster two different uh times in his time. And then his daughter acquired it, which is my great-grandmother, and then her son, my grandfather, uh Joseph Clarenceable, he was post all he was he carried the mail on a mule and then went to a Jeep, and then my dad carried the mail. And then I worked for UPS.

Crista Cowan 33:52

So you don't just have deep Kentucky routes, you've got deep community service registers.

Paul Abell 33:56

Deep service routes, and then my brother carried the mail too. That one in Texas, he retired from the post office. So that post office just sort of had a little line in there, you know, you know.

Crista Cowan 34:07

Yeah. The post office has family history too.

Paul Abell 34:10

Right.

Crista Cowan 34:10

I love that. That's within the yeah. That's amazing. So Caitlin has 32 first cousins on you on her daddy's side. Do you know how many you have?

Paul Abell 34:19

Oh no. I'm finding them every day. First first cousins, I don't know, I I probably I don't I don't know. Probably 50. Okay. Because everybody had I I haven't really counted on.

Crista Cowan 34:36

And then because your family's been there for generations, right? Like second cousins and third cousins. Friends was family.

Paul Abell 34:42

You know what I mean? So you didn't really think of them as cousins, you know, unless you was talking with somebody else. Yeah. But growing up, they was friends. Yeah. You know, that's who you went hunting with or double dating or, you know, worked with or whatever, you know, or what whatever you was doing, you know. Yeah. But it was a lot.

Crista Cowan 35:07

Yeah. I think there's something really unique about living in that kind of a community, though, right?

Paul Abell 35:13

Well, you didn't want to mess with nobody in there.

Crista Cowan 35:15

Right.

Paul Abell 35:16

Because we all looked out for each other.

What Kentucky Means As Home

Crista Cowan 35:19

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, uh Caitlyn, what is it about growing up in Kentucky and in that kind of an environment and that kind of a family that you realize maybe growing up seemed normal, but now you're like, that was really unique and special.

Caitlyn Bruns 35:36

I think just like seeing both sets of my grandparents all the time was something that is very unique and something that most people don't get to do. Yeah. Yeah. What does it mean to you to be from Kentucky? Um, I think it is one of those things, like there's a saying that I've heard, and they probably say this about every state, but people from Kentucky are either coming home or they're at home or they've been at home. And I think Kentucky always feels like home. And when I say that, it, you know, it's that's where I'm from. I really feel like I'm a Kentucky person. It doesn't matter how long I'm gonna be in Utah. I don't know that I'll ever be in a Utah.

Crista Cowan 36:19

And yet somehow you manage to escape without the accent.

Caitlyn Bruns 36:23

Yeah.

Crista Cowan 36:25

Stor some stories on that. But that's fine. Paul, what about you? What does it mean to be from Kentucky?

Paul Abell 36:33

Well, I I was born and bred there, so that's where I call home.

Crista Cowan 36:39

Yeah. You never never thought about leaving?

Paul Abell 36:43

Not no, I'd never hell. You know, a lot of a lot of people do us, but I went to Bowling Green, which was uh was about eighty, ninety miles away. And I was too far then.

Crista Cowan 36:57

Yeah.

Final Reflections And Thanks

Paul Abell 36:57

Sound like But I mean I was still in Kentucky, but I was too far from home. Yeah. I mean, you know, home place, you know, but uh I'm just one of those that uh satisfied with where I was at, you know.

Crista Cowan 37:13

Well, it sounds like a beautiful place, and there is something to be said for having deep roots in a place. And I think it's really admirable and beautiful that you're caring for your family heritage the way you are. I think that's really lovely. Thank you both for being here. I appreciate your appreciate your depth of connection to Kentucky, but also just lovely hearing you share family stories together.

Caitlyn Bruns 37:36

Thank you for having us.

Paul Abell 37:37

Thanks for having us. Appreciate it.

Caitlyn Bruns 37:40

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