This Trip Starts with a Good Story
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This artists retreat in June of 2022 was the brainchild of my cousin Gena Brodie Robbins, an artist based in Atlanta. Why Scotland for her first international retreat? Here's the good part: Our fathers are brothers, and a curious cousin of theirs wrote a book of genealogy that traced our line of Brodies to brothers who sailed from Aberdeen to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1784. A trip to the motherland was a natural choice when Gena decided to plan the retreat, and here's the best part: we stayed at Brodie Castle! The castle, located in Forres, was still a home to a Brodie up until 2003, and when he died the National Trust for Scotland took over full management and allows lodging for visitors in one wing. Yea for us!
Are our Aberdeen ancestors related to these Brodies? Gena and I think so, of course. What we do know is that our fathers met up at Brodie back in 2001--coincidentally! (That's another story.) They stood here just like we did 20 years later. Gena has confirmed dates for her second retreat to Brodie. See all the details on her web site. |
Gena and I having a small family reunion in front of Brodie Castle twenty years after our fathers did. Can you tell which daughter belongs to which dad?
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