Cooley-Johnson Family Reunion 2009

It's official. We have a date, location and a time for the reunion this year. Armon confirmed the details this morning. We'll gather at the Martin Luther King Park, 1650 Garfield Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. EASTSIDE, BABY!!! Put a big red circle around September 19th on your calendar. Everything will kick off at 2:00pm, with dinner being served between 3-3:30pm. There will more information mailed out soon. Feel free to send me an email with your contact information. I want to ensure all the family is "in the know" for the reunion. A fun time will be had by all.

Here's Kevin

I enjoy doing research about the family and sharing it with everyone, but I think everyone knows this. I've got something I'd like to share with you. I've made contact with a cousin I haven't seen in years. Y'all know I will track a Cooley down!!! I'm still working on finding Uncle Curtis' family in Detroit, but I digress. I was surprised this afternoon to find/connect with Cousin Kevin. Let me tell you about him. He is the son of Frank and D. Maxine (nee Cooley) and the grandson of Ethyl and Edward Cooley. Cousin Kevin is doing well and living in northern California. This is great news. It's been several, many and quite a few years since we've seen each other. The picture of the three of us, Kevin, his brother Michael and yours truly, was taken when we celebrated my sixth birthday. That was back in 1972. We have gotten older, lived life and learned a hell of a lot. One thing has remained the same -- I love my cousin. I think he looks like Dideo. It would be nice if he could make to this year's family reunion. Sidebar -- I have news about the 2009 Cooley-Johnson Family Reunion. There will be another post containing the latest information. Stay tuned...

Someone Is Turning Another Year Better

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there lived a little girl in the Brewster Projects in Detroit, Michigan. Oh wait, that's not this little girl. That's another diva. This young lady here had her life change the moment she saw The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. When she saw John, Paul, George and Ringo perform she was hooked. She knew it's what she wanted to do. With encouragement from family members, she took music lessons. Those lessons would prove valuable later in life. They provided her the opportunity to travel throughout the world and meet various people in the entertainment industry. "All I want to do is play music." That's been her mantra for years. Find your passion in life and live it! Make it a reality. I learned that from her. On this day, I would like to extend a birthday greeting. Happy Birthday Cheryl. Much happiness today and everyday.


"...and the passion for the music continues!"

I Have Something For You

My grandmother was one cool lady. "I'm plain ole Vel." is what she would say. If you had a dumb moment and crossed her, she'd correct you. Some of the words she used will not be included in this posting. Some of y'all are saved folks, and I don't want your eyes to see such words. Anyhow, my grandmother was a woman ahead of her time. She always made a plan and worked it to completion. Grandma did not believe she could be held back. Being Colored (sidebar: for those that didn't know, in the early part of the 20th century we were Colored) and being a woman could not be considered a deterrent to her life. She fully embraced the person she was, Veltirea. Well, I said she was cool, so let me get back to that. After my grandfather died, my grandmother came out of retirement and accepted a part-time position at the Urban League. She enjoyed it. Working with the seniors program provided Grandma many chances to meet and work with various individuals and programs. I was home from work one day when she called. Grandma said, "I have something for you. I'll give it to you when I leave work." I started to smile. She said she had "something" for me. I wanted to know what it was she was giving me. I never liked surprises. I need to be in the know. So, I said, "Well, Granny -- whatcha got for me?" Veltirea said, "Pardon?" That one word reply said many things. It meant what I said was incorrect; grammatically and otherwise. I was supposed to correct myself, get it together and try again. Okay, take two. "Grandma, what do you have for me?" I thought that would make things good again. She said, "Oh, I'm not telling you. You'll see later this afternoon." That was not the answer I wanted. Though I asked a couple times more, she ignored me and went to the next subject. The conversation lasted a few minutes longer and ended. No further mention of the "something." I had to WAIT until she finished work before I could get it. I didn't like the idea of not knowing what I was getting, but I was happy! My Grandma had a gift for me. I was a grown-ass man of 27 years. This meant nothing. One of the holdovers from childhood. I would get excited when I knew my Grandma had a gift for me. Like an excited kid waiting for Christmas, I waited for Grandma's workday to end. Five o'clock would not come soon enough. I left at twenty minutes to five, a whole fifteen minutes earlier than necessary. I wanted to ensure I'd be at the Urban League on time. It was a five minute drive, but I wasn't taking chances. A little after five, Grandma comes out of the building. I see a big Carson Pirie Scott bag in her hand. I smiled as I got out of the car. I walked over to take the bag from her and said, "Thank you, for the gift." Grandma said, "Oh no. This isn't yours, it's mine. I bought a new bedspread. What I have for you is in my purse." Not a problem, I still had a gift coming. I opened the front passenger door for her to get into the car. When she was seated, I opened the backdoor and placed the bag on the seat. As I walked around the back of the car, I could see Grandma reaching into her purse. Once I was seated on the driver's side she said, "This is for you." She handed me a booklet on safe sex practices AND how to apply a condom on an erect penis. This was not what I expected. I'm not sure what I wanted or thought it would be? I knew one thing, "this ain't it." Grandma reached into her purse and pulled out several condoms. She handed those over as well. I asked her, "Why are you giving this stuff to me? Thank you, but I know all about this. I wasn't expecting all of this from my Grandma." She turned and said, "I know what's going on out here these days and I know you're having sex. I want you to be safe and protect yourself." She made it plain and simple. I was embarrassed then, but I laugh about it now. It cracks me up. My grandmother was far from being a typical grandmother. Not only was she my grandma, she was my friend. She always had my back -- no matter what.

Happy Birthday Akya, Michelle and Nechelle

There are times things slip my mind. I don't blame it on my age (43 and looking damn good), short attention span or someone else. Hey, I forget. To my defense, when I was at the casino with a buddy, I said, "There is some significance to July 18th, but I don't remember." I knew there was something special about the day. At the time it didn't occur to me what made the date notable. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. It took a couple of days, but I figured it out. Saturday was Michelle and her daughter Nechelle's birthday. Ha-ha, I remembered. The fact that I was a couple of days late means nothing. So, with all that said, Happy Birthday Akya (July15). Happy Birthday Shelley. Happy Birthday Nechelle. The three young ladies are from the Eugene Cooley branch of the family. Donna (daughter of Eugene) is the mother of Shelley. Nechelle is the daughter of Shelley. Akya is the daughter of Rob and Rob is Donna's son. I don't have a picture of Akya, but Rob is going to get one to me soon.

Pictures: Nechelle and Shelley

The Four Cooleys

This is the only know picture of Ethyl and Edward Cooley's four children together. This was taken at their grandfather, Edward Johnson's farm sometime after 1931. From oldest to youngest pictured; Veltirea Leonia, Marvin De Forrest, Eugene Lawrence and Doris Maxine Cooley. Veltirea married Dr J. Walter Thompson and had two children; Snookie and Vicki. Marvin married Bessie Colbert and had two children; Marlene and Cheryl. Eugene married Helen Anderson and had three children; Donna, Larry and Connie. Eugene and his second wife Julia Rumley had three children; Bobby, Darlene and Veltirea. Doris married Frank Guess and had two children; Kevin and Michael. There are a total of fourteen Cooley grandchildren. That's the easy number. The total number of great and great-great Cooley grandchildren is much larger. One day I intend to get the names of each great and great-great grandchild. Today ain't that day.

Happy Birthday Justin!!!

If I'm certain of one thing, I know my "little" cousin is going to enjoy celebrating his birthday. Don't let the kewl exterior fool you. This man likes to have a good time and ensure all around him are doing the same. It's safe to save a fun time will be had by all. Happy Birthday, Justin. Much peace, many blessings and an abundance of love - today and every day.

I'd Like To Say...

A big HELLO from me. I enjoy writing so much. I started this blog as a way to share family stories and information. That's the problem. With so much information; documents, photographs, census information, it's not so easy to sit and write about one person. There are so many from which to choose. I want to include (especially for the members that are no longer with us) as much documentation as possible. I promise there will be more family stories and pictures in the near future. As always continue to check the blog every couple of days. You just never know when I'll post some tales of the fam.

Happy Birthday Leah!!!

It's time to recognize the birthday of another Cooley descendant. This young lady is Leah, the daughter of Justin and Libby. She is beautiful in her appearance as well as her spirit. I see a wonderful future for this great-great-great-great grand daughter of Lacy and Aggie Cooley.

Is The Family Reunion September 12, 2009???

The Fourth of July was spent with the family. The tradition continues and I'M LOVIN IT! I like spending time with my family -- holiday or no holiday. We will find a way or a day to get together to eat. With that in mind, I'd like to share a thought. The Fourth of July is all about barbeque and the "barbeque queen" did an excellent job. It was some of the best she's done this year. You go, Toyia! Good food always leads to good conversation. Old stories were told and new memories were created and NOTES were taken, so I'll put them together for another post. At the end of the day, a fun time was had by all. Will we have a chance to do the same at the family reunion? Well, I've been told it will be the second weekend in September. Since various relatives have talked about this amongst themselves, I decided to check this out, for myself. I placed a call to Armon, but he didn't answer and I left a voice message. It's time to know the plan and make the necessary arrangements to attend. I hope to learn something soon. As always -- when I know more, you'll know more. Who are the folks in this set of pics? A few Cooleys and a few Johnsons -- The Fam.

Happy Birthday Fatts!!! The Terrible 2's Are Here!

With a face like this you feel nothing but love for him. Each time I look a picture of "Fatts", I can't help but smile. Such a cute kid (yeah, I said it) with a cool disposition. This young man is the great grandson of Eugene and Helen Cooley. To my little cousin Jordan, I wish you a very Happy Birthday. Hey Justin and Libby, give him a lot of cake, ice cream, candy and cookies on his special day :-)

Independence Day

Let me ask you this, does England have a July 4th? Yep, they do! Silly question, I know. It's the Fourth of July and the work has begun. Toyia started her cooking on friday evening. I guess she's getting a head start on her feast. Yes, tradition continues -- there will be a family meal today. I do like to eat up a bunch food on days like today. Hell yeah I do!!! I enjoy it more when I have little or no cooking to do. This year I will help on a few things. Mom requested I make sweet potato pudding. I have made it before, but never for July 4th. It's not what we'd normally have. There will be the old favorites; barbeque ribs, chicken, burgers and brats. I'm sure Toyia "the barbeque queen" will put a few ears of corn on the grill, too. I like that. While preparing and then enjoying our delicious meal and good time together, there will be tales of holidays and relatives long past. Family history and traditions will be told by the "wise ones" and passed to the young ones to tell at future gatherings. Years from now, when some of us are gone or just plain OLD, Maurice will share these stories with his family. I know I'll be there to make certain he tells them correctly. This is a photo (one of my favorites) of Ethyl Johnson Cooley, with her sister-in-law Victoria Cooley Cogwell and friends. They were known to take many roadtrips throughout the midwest in the 1920's. The location of this picture may be Chicago or Minneapolis.

F.Y.I.

I want you to take a look at the older posts. I have added a few new pictures to some of them. Here are some pics of the fam.

Happy Birthday Zoe!!!

Go Zoey, it's your birthday! Happy Birthday Zoe Elizabeth. The little Princess is seven years old today. Zoe is the great-granddaughter of Eugene "Eckie Bud" and Helen Cooley. Something interesting happened the last time we were together. After having a large breakfast at Perkins, it was time for us to leave. Zoe and I played while waiting for the rest of the family. We were having a good time, just the two Cooley cousins. I happened to turn my head and noticed an elderly white woman looking at us. She looked at me as though I was a predator preying on this small child. It appeared as though she wanted to say or do something. I'm glad she didn't. She was dead wrong and I would have snapped her right up! I was playing with my cousin Zoe and making her laugh. I guess to look at us it would not be so obvious that we're related. No matter - she's mine and I am hers. Sometimes you have to overlook the ignorance of others. This taught me to let the love of my family be known to everyone. Zoe is the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Lacy and Aggie Cooley. I am their great-great-great grandson. It doesn't matter if all of my family "looks like me" or not, we have that common bond -- Cooley blood. I love you, Zoe. Happy Birthday to you. You are my little Princess.