It's A Family Thing

I love my family. We are a very close bunch... and I'm not just talking about my immediate family, but my extended family as well. If we could all show up at the same time, there would be 51 of us. That can't happen right now; two of them live in Tennessee and won't have anything to do with us, and one is in Texas and it will be a while before he'll be back home. Anyhow, besides the two in Tennessee, we are all quite close, which is something that is not found very often these days. Every year for as long as I can remember, my Unc has cooked pounds and pounds of pork over an open pit, the women of the family bring the "fixings" and we all get together on the 4th of July. For the past couple of years, he extended the invitation to cousins a little farther out from our normal circle. We would eat at Unc's church then gather around the piano and different groups from the family would sing old Gospel hymns. I know, it sounds like something you would see on the Hallmark Channel, but those are memories that all of us hold very near and dear. This year we did not include the "extras" but kept it more close-knit.

Everyone has sort of fallen into the tradition of wearing "festive" clothes for the occasion. I have shrunk out of all my clothes, so I had to buy a new patriotic shirt this year. The one I got is so cute, but would surely make our forefathers roll over in their graves! It's red, and has blue stars exploding off to one side and white stripes in another place, and it says "I'll show you my stars if you show me your stripes!" I love it!

Anyhow, the food was AWESOME!!! And we all had a great time together. For the most part I hung with Sister, her friend, Crazy Cousin, and Little Cousin. When the night was winding down, our crew was not ready to head for home. One of my cousins has a friend who is a multi-millionaire. Money-bags is out of town and my cousin's friend is house-sitting. That cousin made a phone call, and we all went up to the mansion for a late-night swim. I'll never be able to justly describe the mansion. I didn't even get to see the inside because the floors are being refinished, but we did peak through the windows. The pool house was awesome though, complete with a fully furnished personal gym, and two or three large bathrooms/ changing rooms, a full kitchen, and a full bar. The pool is a salt-water pool, and it's heated. Attached to the big pool is a more narrow pool that's even warmer than the big pool, and it overlooks half the city. Next to that pool is the hot tub, which I think my cousin said would hold up to twenty people comfortably. Really, all I can say about it is "Wow..."

It was so relaxing and so much fun. I honestly can't remember the last time that I have gone swimming in a pool. I almost forgot how! Sister's friend drug me under and I got water all up my nose, that used to never happen to me. The coolest part of the whole night is that I was wearing my new swimsuit, and for the first time in God knows how long, I wasn't self conscious. For more years than I can remember, I've been covering my swimsuit with a t-shirt, and this summer I don't have to do that. I even allowed my cousin to take my picture while I was still in the swimsuit. Grant it, there were 10 of us in the hot tub, and I was sitting down, thus making the lower portion invisible in the picture, but still...

We got out of church early tonight, so I surprised Sister by showing up at her church. When church was over, we, along with some of my cousins and another friend we to eat Mexican. One of those cousins is having some serious health problems, she is awaiting a diagnosis to problems that started well over a month ago, and is expecting her doctor to tell her that she has M.S. She's only 39 or 40 years old. If I started listing all the health problems that are plaguing the members of my family, I'd be here all night. However, when we are together at times like tonight and last night, we do not focus on the bad stuff. We ask after each other, and listen as we recount what this doctor or that doctor said. But, if you were a fly on the wall, what you would hear the loudest would be laughter, fun, caring, and sharing. We uplift one another, we pray for one another, and we love one another. Unconditionally, at that. No matter what, we're always there for each other.

Crazy Cousin goes back to school tomorrow. I'm going to miss her. She attends the same college I attended. Hearing her wild and crazy stories always reminds me of my own crazy stories from my time in that city. We're so much alike that it's almost scary. I have no doubt that she'll turn out alright... I did. I guess you could say that it's just "a family thing!"