Lunch with the cousins

My family is small. Everyone on my dad's side is gone or estranged from the immediate family, and there aren't many relatives left on my mom's side. Not too long ago my mom lost both her sister and brother in just a matter of a few months.

In the beginning there were six of us cousins. Four from my Aunt Dot, Linda, Debbie, Bill, and Ted, and one, Jerry, from my Uncle Elmer. For the past twenty years the only time we have been together is either at a wedding or a funeral.

We lost Linda to cancer several years ago. Linda and I were the closest in age and the closest period for many years. We married brothers years ago right out of high school (our first marriages) so our lives were pretty involved since we had the same in-laws, etc. We left Missouri with our husbands and moved to Washington State, and it was nice that we always had each other, being cousins and sister-in-laws. Linda was also close to my first three children. After the divorces from the brothers we kind of lost track of each other, and never regained the closeness we once had. We actually had been through a lot together, kind of helped each other grow up a little along the way. I am thankful that I at least had the chance to visit with her a couple of times before she passed away. Linda was also the center of her brothers and sister and her passing left a terrible empty place for all of them.

I am an only child, so without any siblings family get togethers are pretty slim pickings. This morning my cousin Ted e-mailed me and said that he, Bill, and Debbie were meeting for lunch and asked me to join them if I could get away. We only had a little over an hour but we had such a great time talking about our folks, our kids (my two oldest are the same age as Bill and Ted and they used to play together when they were little). Today, I learned that Debbie's son is moving to Kansas not far from where my youngest son and his family live, it's such a small world. I had a great time (I certainly enjoyed being in the presence of three other Democrats!) and I hope we can do this again, Maybe Jerry can join us next time.

So, thanks cuzes for thinking me!

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