Relatively speaking
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
I've just had a week of relatives in Ramona. It's a wonderful thing for a family group to agree to converge at the same time in the same place. There's more logistics than just changing the sheets on the beds in Cousin's Corner. Everyone makes an effort whether that's getting the motor home in shape for traveling, getting a pet sitter, or asking for time off. Some of A.G. and Augusta Schubert's kin came from California and some from Virginia.
"Why?" I wonder. "What is this tug that pulls us back to the place of our origin?"
This past week I met new relatives — big and little. Some had just married into the family. One was born into the mix. Some already were grown and still I was seeing them for the first time.
This family of ours are such good sports. We had an Hawaiian theme and this new little baby named Tasia came complete with a grass skirt! We all wore our Aloha shirts and any kind of tropical garb we could muster. Cousin Vicki actually sent off to Hawaii for matching muumuus and shirts for her and her husband.
Cousin Jessica ordered blow-up palm trees and brought leis and shells and grass skirts back from Hawaii. Cousin Becky found palm trees for table decorations and straws with flowers on them to sip our tropical concoctions. We tried to do the hula and the limbo and laughed ourselves silly.
Cousin Dana helped dice vegetables for macaroni salad. Tooltime Tim chopped onions for the stir-fry. We ate "plate specials" with rice instead of country mashed potatoes and everyone said, "This is the best meal ever!" While the meal was tasty, we didn't come for the food. While the theme was a dandy, we didn't come together to "ooh and ahhhh" at the décor, either.
"What?" I wonder. "What did they get from coming?"
We played bocce ball. That isn't Hawaiian but we started this a couple of years ago and our family loves the game. Cousin Adam wondered why we hadn't already set up a make-shift court. Cousin Ken volunteered to help. And before you could empty two spray cans of paint, we had a court painted in the Kansas grass. Tooltime Tim found the tape measure. Cousin Pat found the balls and we were set. But they didn't come clear to Ramona to play bocce ball.
A week later, I'm mowing grass and the bocce ball court is disappearing. What lingers, however, are the memories. I grin remembering how we all tried to do Cousin Keith's technique of lobbing the ball because the ground was so uneven. I smile recalling the laughter that I attempted to video. A group of cousins was standing in front of the house talking and every few minutes laughter would erupt; but when I'd turn on the camera, everything was still. I loved that sound of laughter. Cousin John and Cousin Georgia have the most distinctive laugh and I wanted to record it for posterity.
Some cousins that I saw this past week were just beginning their adult lives with new husbands and tiny tots in tow. Some cousins are nearing the end of their life cycles and didn't want pictures taken. "I've got this new wig that I'm trying to get used to," said Cousin Lela as she tugged it tighter on her head. She's suffering the aftermath of chemotherapy. "I can hardly wait until summer," she jokes and makes a wry face.
The reasons we come together are simple and homespun: to remember. And what do we take home with us? A family. Not just a group of genetically linked people but relatives who have vowed to know one another, to share our life experiences, and model for those who come after that there is joy in the journey! All this and more, on another day in the country.
