Monday Memories: Family Reunions

Well, a Monday Memory on Tuesday is better than no Monday Memory, right? :-D

This weekend we had a family reunion on my mom’s maternal side of the family. Mom’s an only child, so I have no aunts, uncles, or first cousins, but Grandma is one of ten, so I have lots of extended family. The reunion brought back lots of good memories.

Two of my second-cousins are more like first cousins, in that our families spent a lot of time together in my growing years. My two sisters and the two of them and I had tons of fun. Our favorite game was Fruit Basket Upset and we would play until we were screaming hilariously and my cousin’s dad would pop his head in for us to calm down.

The annual family reunions provide a lot of memories, too. I love listening to the stories my grandparents and great aunts and uncles tell, as well as playing with my second-cousins, when I was younger. I remember one time when we were taking turns jumping on a giant trampoline. Then two older cousins from out of town (whom I didn’t know) started hogging the trampoline and wouldn’t let us younger ones have a turn.

After a bit, my dad came over and gave the older boys a scolding and made them give us a turn. Dad returned to chatting with the adults, and the two sets of cousins stared at me.

The older ones scowled. “Tattletale.”

I grinned. “I didn’t say a word! He saw it himself and came over.”

The younger cousins stared at me with admiration. “Your dad is awesome.”

I agreed.

Another thing I never fail to enjoy at the reunions, is my Great-Uncle Cliff’s music. He plays the accordion, piano, harmonica, and I’m sure several other instruments. He generally brings his accordion and harmonica to the reunions, and brings it out to play hymns while we listen or sing along. He even taught my oldest sister how to play the accordion.

This year Uncle Cliff’s carpel tunnel syndrome won’t let him play the accordion, so he brought a keyboard. He played it and his son played a harmonica for a while, and then I heard, “Amy! Where’s Amy? I want her to come sing with us.”

I hid behind Grandma.

Later Uncle Cliff looked at me sadly. “I wish you would have sung.”

Awww. I suppose next year I’ll sing. ;-)