I remember as a kid and even young adult being so irritated with my parents when they just had to visit cousins on vacation. One time on a weekend trip to the lake, we had to veer three hours off course to attend a 70-year old cousin of my father's husband's funeral. There I was staring at Tom in the casket, a man I'd never met in real life. UGH! Another memorable moment down at South Padre was spent listening to a boring distant cousin's husband drone on and on about all the damn dams in China. Afterwards, my aunt reminded me they were no blood relation of hers since she was adopted. HA!
Time rolls on, and fortunately, attitudes change. We're no longer forced to sit round the table together, so we have to choose to stay in touch.
So yesterday, I was thrilled when my only cousin on my father's side (favorite aunt's son) called me to go to lunch. He was in town with his son for ASU freshmen orientation. I picked him up at his hotel and he led me down to Mill Avenue, the ASU shopping/restaurant zone. We ran up and down Mill in the pouring cold rain to My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, where we ate Greek food and had a blast catching up.
So here's to the cousins! I look forward to keeping the torch burning! : ) (But I probably still won't drive half a day to meet a distant relative for the first time if he's lying in a satin-lined box.)
2 comments:
You're lucky to have cousins! I have no 1st cousins, maybe 1 or 2
2nd cousins--My Dad was an only child & my Mom's siter had no kids! Wish I had a few --I'm sure somebody out there would probably like to give me some of theirs!
Ann, I am lucky to have a few cousins. The ones on my mom's side didn't live near us growing up, so there's not much of a connection there. My brother's been better about the funerals and keeping connections than I have. This cousin and his brother were the only one's we were really close to growing up. We have history -- walnut fights, tearing around my little hometown together, etc... He even took me to kindergarten orientation. HA! We've seen each other a lot over the past few years due to deaths in the family. And now, Facebook's great for maintaining the connections.
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