I’ve written before about the group of cousins generated
by my father and his remarkable siblings. They were an integral piece of the fabric
of my early life. That was sundered to a certain degree with my parent’s
divorce and my subsequent Army career. One of the very best parts of retiring
from the military was reconnecting with them on a more regular basis. We’re all
getting up there in age and five of us have departed the realm so far. We have
a daughter of my father’s oldest sister, who I refer to as the Cousin-in-Chief,
who keeps us updated on family events. She and I kid each other that I cringe
every time I get an email from her because it usually carries required, but bad
news.
 |
| My Cousin as a Young Man |
Yesterday was no exception as she reported that one
of the cousins was in grave condition with Covid-19. He’s been confined to a
long term care facility for a number of years from the after effects of a very
serious car accident. In recent years he’s developed respiratory issues so he’s
in the worse possible shape to fight this off. He was part of the “older” cousins
growing up but I have fond memories of him from a week I spent with his family
at “Uncle Bud’s” cottage in Harrisville, NH in 1969. He taught me while we were
there how to split fire wood with a wedge he’d made himself in a shop class. I
felt honored as one of the younger cousins being taken under the wing of one of
the much cooler older ones. I hope he wins his fight because I’ll feel diminished
if another part of that fabric is rent.
 |
| The ABFA Blanket Fort |
I think this virus has been around a lot longer than
most of the politicos are willing to admit; mostly because it would make them
look like jackasses. Great Aunt shares that opinion. She works in the health
care industry and thinks she may have even had it already. She was unable to
attend the BRS’ birthday back in early February because of a very bad cold,
which she dutifully passed on to Soxfather. She was talking with her doctor
last week and he suggested she probably had Coivd-19 before anyone was looking
for it.
 |
| A Very Happy BRS Inside her Fort |
Speaking of the BRS, the ABFA has joined in the
family tradition of living room blanket tent/fort construction. She and my Favorite
Son split the day between them for child care duties since they’re both working
from home. Yesterday under the watchful construction supervision of the BRS the
ABFA built a totally awesome blanket fort based on the BRS’ trampoline. The BRS
was so impressed when my son took up the child care duties in the afternoon he (or
at least his head) was required to spend a full half hour inside the fort with the
BRS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECURRING
CHARACTERS
BR3
– inbound
granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel
- second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog
Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA –
Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since
grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to
attract women; Pittsburgh College
Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two
close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd musquetera
(musketeer); Riggins - also known as
the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals
– female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife
accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member, Favorite Panamanian - the
wife (of course); First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her
single days in Brooklyn
No comments:
Post a Comment