Quality Cousin Time

One of the Tables

I’ve written before around this time of year how blessed I am in the cousin department. Yesterday I journeyed north into the wilds of western New Hampshire to continue a tradition that’s been going on since the end of World War 2, the annual gathering of my father’s family for Thanksgiving. It started out in Keene at the house of my grandparent’s on Park Avenue and then migrated to Palmer, Massachusetts and the house of my father’s oldest sister. Those are the Thanksgivings implacably entombed in my memory as some of the happiest times of my life. It was to that house that I returned to the family fold at the urging of that aunt shortly after returning to the US in 1984 from Panama.

The Very Crowded Table for the Eldest

The celebration has moved twice since then with the passing of so many of those magnificent aunts and uncles and now resides in Hancock, NH at the home of that aunt’s daughter. The gathering was the smallest it’s been in years with only twenty seven sitting down for dinner as various schedules and surgeries conspired to keep the numbers down. We still had a fantastic time and maybe it was precisely because of the small numbers. There was time to spend with each cousin and talk about the past year and catch them up on everything that had passed. There was also the requisite pack of dogs circling the gathering - we're dog people to the bone. 

ABFA and Favorite Son Manning the Youngest Table

My Favorite Son and the ABFA also showed up offering some rare time to hang out with them as well. My wife, the ultimate people person, always melds easily into the group. Cousins traveled from as far away as Colorado and Minnesota to gather and each of my father’s many brothers and sisters, save one, was represented by offspring. While I’m worried we haven’t been able to reproduce the magic of the day for subsequent generations I think that’s more a case of a changing society where convenience has trumped (hmm where did that word come from) tradition.

Granddaughter Sliding with Wingman Yesterday in San Diego

The severe lack of youngsters is something that will have to be addressed in future years. We might be able to assist if we can convince the Californian contingent to re-deploy east. They spent yesterday in San Diego and were just getting cranked up as we were decompressing after the drive home. The annual football game was shelved when the median age of the participants was pushing seventy. Let it be known that I had brought my football gear with me and was prepared to play. I loved perusing Facebook this morning and seeing the different Thanksgiving Day celebrations documented. I think Thanksgiving is special because it is a very American gathering of families. I think there’s an intrinsic value in the tradition that future generations realize and hang on to.

My Younger Sister and Two Generations of hers Yesterday in Framingham

Some of the Dogs From Yesterday

So a day with time incredibly well spent and in no uncertain terms paying homage to – Margaret, William, Mayland (Uncle Chink), Annabelle, June, Pete (killed at Guadalcanal), Ted, and of course Bobby; the superb aunts and uncles who bequeathed such an abundance of excellence in cousins. The celebrations are not over as today we venture south into Rhode Island to continue a Thanksgiving tradition by gathering at my sister’s house. Party on!

She's a Hugger

And a Laugher!