I am blessed with an enormous family. Dad is one of TED kids, Mom is one of FIVE. I am the oldest of FIVE. Yes we are catholic ;)
I digress...the result of this is that I have more cousins than I can count on most days and we are all close. When Robert joind our family, he was floored by the sheer number in the "clan" and then completely taken by surprise at our welcoming nature. He grew up in a small family and this was a generally foriegn concept to him. Over the years he became even more in awe of just how close we were. When Munchkin was born, my heart ached that we were so far away from everyone. So much that before Robert died, we had actually decided that we would move back to Chicago before he started school.
Tonight and tomorrow night, my brother's kids are sleeping over. The boys will race their pinewood derby cars tomorrow and we will generally frolic and have a ton of fun. As I listened to the boys play while I painted Princess's nails, well, I could literally hear the joy in their giggles. They are currently snuggled up with their pillow pets on the floor talking about the big race in the morning.
I am so grateful that he will grow as close to his cousins as I did, becuase honestly, I have no idea where I would be today had I not been blessed with the family that I have.
I've lost count of my cousins. Since we see each other mainly at funerals nowadays, I decided to throw my mom a big party when she turned 80, and invited all her nieces and nephews (my cousins), but without their children. It was a great reunion for all of us, with the 'old people' sitting in a corner having their fun and us having a ball at the bar.
ReplyDeleteNo concept how many cousins I have now. Last count was something like 46. We are not Catholic... just prolific ;) xxx
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