Well it is the sunday after the christmas over at our 2nd cousins and great uncles and great aunts over on my mothers side, year 2007. Yes, it is raining more than just cats and dogs; bears, horses and maybe even reindeer. Crazy enough, it also warm enough to wear shorts and a nice t-shirt, as long as you stay dry.
Well it is the sunday after the christmas over at our 2nd cousins and great uncles and great aunts over on my mothers side, year 2007. Yes, it is raining more than just cats and dogs; bears, horses and maybe even reindeer. Crazy enough, it also warm enough to wear shorts and a nice t-shirt, as long as you stay dry. I’m sitting on a couch that is probably close to twice my age listening to some man crooning about having a fast death on Prairie Home Companion. Trumpets blaring and and a stand up bass, classic drum set allowing for a piece of musical americana style to continue on the radio.
At aunt Pam’s and Uncle John’s house, only a few things had changed around the house but not a lot. You could still see all three hundred thousand pictures she has of everyone and everything that has to do with her continually growing family. She still had all of her santa statues exactly where she had them every year, a collection rivaling Granny and Granddad’s. The food all still appeared in the same spots, with the dessert table right between the greatest flow of traffic in the house, between the living room and the dining room, begging people to pick and nibble before the snacks were even served.
It is great to see the family growing closer together as we all grow closer to God in more ways than one. While almost all are growing spiritually closer everyday, others are growing to a more physical closeness to the Lord. So all of the factors have allowed us to become comfortable around each other even though some of us only see this family once a year allow us to express our selves and our love very openly. This year it was done more organized because some of the greater uncle’s tend to express themselves in a manner that can make the newer people of the family uncomfortable. So this being Aunt Pam’s party she had all the adults, along with the one’s of us who had technically lived long enough even though we may not act as such, to gather in the living room and take a number from a hat. Then one by one, in numerical number, we got a chance to say what we needed to say, wanted to say. I skipped my turn and I’m sorry about that. In fact, days before we even came to the house I knew what I was going to say given the chance. But I got too emotional even before my turn came. So i decided to skip it, and that i would write this and hopefully someone would read it and pass it on. Trust me if I had gone it would have taken at least an hour to clean up from water damage. 🙂
So, I guess it is my turn, I was number 32. I’m more than thankful for my great Aunt’s and Uncle’s. On the other side of my family we just lost an Uncle, Uncle Bill. He was married to my grandfather’s sister. I would only see him on thanksgiving, along with the rest of my uncle’s and aunt’s. And after supper they would visit and talk and always refer to old friends who I did not know. I would go and play with my cousins and maybe sit through one of his little table antics. He would do the kind of things that were designed to entertain bored kids at a table; hanging spoons on his nose, balancing a fork on a glass, and trying to play music with crystal water glasses. That was the depth of my knowledge of him. It wasn’t until he died and I went to his funeral that I realized how amazing of a person he was. He spread a great amount of love and happiness to many people. I regret the fact that I didn’t get to know him that well, and then I realized how much I took for granted the other side of my extended family. They were the ones that taught me to fish and appreciate my history. I am very very thankful for my whole family, and i wont take for granted anyone in my family anymore cause I know how precious that time is now.