It's a family affair

                                                                                                                                                                  

 

Wow, hard to believe how quickly the day has gone by!

Ken is doing some "work" work while we watch golf (we're concerned about whether or not Tiger's knee is going to hold up), and also watch the storm roll in. The afternoon was beautiful, with blue skies and plenty of sun, but things started clouding up about an hour ago. Maybe it will pass through quickly and we can grill the chicken breasts I've thawed out, but if not, we'll adjust! I can do a baked barbecue chicken in the oven. We're getting a pretty good downpour at the moment, including pea-sized hail, but maybe it will clear up in a bit. I saw this picture of a tornado online this morning--isn't that creepy? I have nightmares about tornadoes, where I'm trying to get everyone to safety in the basement; in my dreams, I usually see multiple tornadoes on the horizon, and say, "They're coming!" as I try to get everyone downstairs. I seem to have an atavistic fear of tornadoes.

I had a nice chat with my Dad and Mom, and wished Dad a Happy Father's Day. He wished Ken one, too. They were taking a slight break between gigs (church in the morning, a visit with the neighbors--who are also cousins--in the afternoon), watching some news and reading the paper. I swear, they have a busier social life than Ken and I do! We'll be seeing them next weekend, when we attend my family reunion. Due to working the weekend the past few years, it's been a while since I've been able to go, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. Mom said, "Oh, good! They'll all be happy to see you!"

I remember the first reunion that Ken attended with me. After lunch (I think I'll take baked beans and maybe some brownies--how does that sound?), we always have a meeting, in which we go through last year's minutes, bring up deaths and births, and figure out the oldest and youngest attendees. When my cousin Emma Jean called the meeting to order, Ken really thought it was a joke. He told me later that he didn't realize we actually had a meeting! Hey, what can I say? We're basically German, and we like our organizational skills, and truth be told, there's a bit of a bureaucracy element! However, the fact that our family reunion has been going on for decades (we've got all the ledgers of meeting minutes--they're an interesting read) show that we've managed to keep a dying tradition alive. I don't know how much longer we'll keep it going, but quite a few cousins still attend, so it's in no danger of an immediate demise. I enjoy seeing everyone, so I hope this continues for many years.

When I was a kid, our reunion was a huge family get-together. I remember big tubs filled with ice and pop, the older guys playing horseshoes, us kids running around like little maniacs...it's gotten much smaller since then. We still each bring a dish, and there's always plenty of food. We seem to have gotten away from nothing but homemade dishes--there's always a bucket of KFC there--and that kind of makes me sad. I understand that people are too busy to make stuff from scratch--heck, like I said, I haven't been able to attend for a few years because I was working--but I still remember Aunt Margaret's (she's been gone for many years now) brownies, going back for seconds and thirds.

I'm looking forward to it. There's a lot to be said for family connections.

Tags: Family reunions