12 Nadels, 1 Town ... run for your lives!

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The proof is in! A once-in-a-decade occurrence actually did occur! I present to you ...

A Nadel Family Reunion.

Front Row: Caroline, Lesley, Katie, Tara, Fran, Rob

Back Row: Al, Don, Lee, Mike, Ben, Russ

(Proof that pix can play tricks: Yes, Ben is tall and Russ is taller, but Ben isn't 4 inches taller than I am ... and Russ sure as heck ain't 6-foot-11. My son and nephew were standing on a hill. No fair!)

Yes, for the first time since 2003, all four Nadel brothers (and our families) appeared in the same place at the same time. The event took place Nov. 2-3 in Washington, D.C.

And they say nothing gets done in our nation's capitol!

My brother Don, who lives in Israel with his wife Lesley, doesn't get to the states all that often. And the last couple of times he did, we weren't all able to get together. Even when my oldest brother Al's son, Russ, got married to Tara in 2008, we weren't all there. Don and Lesley made the trip from London (where they used to live) to Minnesota ... but Lee didn't make the trip from Philly.

So not only hadn't the whole lot gotten together in 10 years, the four Nadel Boyz hadn't been in the same room for a decade. Jeesh!

Here we are, in birth order 

(and, as my parents intended, alphabetical order): 

Al, Don, Lee & Mike

And so, when Don and Lesley announced they were coming to the U.S. for a friend's wedding -- and that they also wanted to have a family reunion -- we were in. The site chosen was D.C. for perfectly logical logistical reasons. Russ, Tara and Al's daughter (our niece) Fran live in the 'burbs there; Al and Lee live in Philly, just a few hours away; and we live in Charlotte, a 6 hour drive. Our kids, Katie and Ben, were planning to visit us in Charlotte the previous weekend; we changed the date so they could join the festivities. And the whole thing became perfect when our other niece Caroline decided to fly in from England.

Wow! A dozen Nadels in one place for the first time in 10 years!

I mean, these days it's rare enough for Roberta and I to get Katie (who lives in Seattle) and Ben (who stayed behind in Chicago when we bolted for Charlotte). So this was quite a bonus.

Now that is one handsome family!

The most festive part of the festivities was the massive Wii Rock Band session in Russ and Tara's basement. I stuck to vocals ... and come on ... you know I absolutely nailed the Freddie Mercury role in Bohemian Rhapsody, right?

I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me. (He's just a poor boy from a poor family. Spare him his life from this monstrosity.)

Anyway, it was great seeing everybody again, all in one place.

I hope it's not 10 years until we do this monstrosity again!
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