Getting Real With Shadra Bruce

I typically do not like Friday the 13th, having inherited a bit of my mother’s superstitious nature. But this Friday the 13th was good luck from start to finish. Not only did Dave and the kids and I enjoy playing tourists in Newport (we went to Ripley’s Believe It or Not and the Wax Museum and wandered the Bayfront) but my dad and his wife (whom I had not seen for three years) and my sister and her family (whom I had not seen in a week – since we were at their house in Utah) arrived in Newport for a mini family reunion.

Having all of us together was pretty fabulous. Tiana’s in-laws came as well and we invaded Mo’s (famous along the Oregon Coast) for a fabulous dinner. If you ever get to go to Mo’s, you should definitely try the fish & chips (it comes with a cup of chowder and a huge hunk of sourdough bread). If you’re looking for lighter fare, they make a Caesar salad with Alaskan salmon that is to die for.

But it wasn’t about the food, as great as it was. It was about the 15 of us sitting there, laughing and visiting and having a great time. It was watching my kids with their cousins (and watching the cousins beg their Uncle Dave to let us move to Utah so that we could be closer all the time). It was about family.