2011 Gratitude #27

I am grateful for extended family. I have a large extended family. I am use to spending time with them pretty much anytime Les or I felt like it. It was harder to do that the last six months while we were trying to conserve our resources and especially when we didn't have income coming in at all. I miss spending time with them. I grew up in a home that not only told me the value and importance of family but also showed me by their actions. All of my mother's siblings live within a short distance of each other. As a result we saw them and their children often. Strong traditions were established. While we didn't celebrate every holiday together we would gather together for the biggest ones. Each gathering was much the same but I loved it. We would have a large potluck meal and then we would tell our favorite stories from years past. At our family christmas party we would go sleigh riding down the road of the hill at my grandmothers home. At Easter we would go to a place we called, "the rocks". It was in the desert with a cliff and giant rocks that littered the floor after falling off of that cliff. It was among these rocks that we would set out our meal. Then we would hunt for eggs in the rocks that covered the steep slope leading up to the cliff. It wasn't until I was older that it occurred to me that some of the eggs we were finding could be ones missed from years before. After the egg hunt we would play baseball. While I have never been very good at baseball I would usually become the runner for my grandfather. For a few years we also went repelling off the cliff. I remember the first time we did it. I watched in amazement as my 80 something grandfather repelled down face down in is cowboy boots. I had always admired my grandparents for their energy and abilities to do so many things most grandparents couldn't or wouldn't do. For the 4th of July we had huge BBQs in a draw on my uncle's property. The men got up and gathered to spend hours preparing and cooking the meat. At some point my dad started cooking breakfast for the workers. I would go along to help. Later in the afternoon people filled the space bringing with them salads and desserts. I don't remember the beginning of this tradition but in my own observations it went from a family event to a minor community event. Friends and neighbors would show up to partake in this yummy affair. Not only did people come from around the state We even had people come from England to attend. When we were younger I had a few cousins that liked to remind everyone else that they were bigger and could do whatever they wanted. To show case this they would drag (not even waiting for the meal to be done) anyone they could down to the canal and drop them in. The more fighting you did the better they liked it. If they couldn't drag you to the canal they would open the riser in the middle of the draw and get you that way. Our family became known for our water fights. I learned quickly that you eat and then hide. They did have some boundries they wouldn't cross. The elderly and those with babies were left alone. As those cousins grew up and became fathers they mellowed out a little. Our water fights almost became extinct. The biggest it gets now is a cup of water thrown here or there. After dinner my cousins and siblings would go up by the house and play basketball. I'm going to miss this tradition. As the meat was being prepared this last summer my two uncles who "host" the event decided they were getting too old to do it anymore. So unless one (or more) of the younger generation wants to take over there will no longer be a 4th of July BBQ.
At Halloween we would go to my grandma's house and she would do what she liked to call a peanut bust. She would have you stand across the room facing her. Then she would throw peanuts at us. The first time it was a surprise. All the other times it was a chance to laugh at how delighted her face got and a chance to laugh as you wrestled over the peanuts (didn't want to disappoint her by not trying). Then the Elementary would have its carnival that all our family would show up to. After doing the games we would sit down to the nice chili dinner the school cafeteria staff cooked. Since mom is a teacher there she would do a booth. When I wasn't playing the other games or eating I would help her run the booth. A few times a few cousins and I would go out and trick or treat at the houses of people we knew who lived close to the school. I think of that with my own children and hope they aren't that stupid. I get terrified of what could happen to my kids if they did some of the things I did as a child.
An example of that is when my cousins and I would blow up inter tubes and float down the canal that flowed through the farming community south of where I grew up. You got great tans doing this but at the same time it was a bit dangerous. One time I went down in a large tube. My cousins wife went with me in it and going through a particular area with rapids we hit our bums on the rocks causing the rapids. I think that was the last time we went down the canal. It has since been enclosed so you can't tube down it anymore.
I love getting to spend time with family. I am grateful for the influence and guidance my family has had on my life. I am grateful that my children have had these people in their lives. As I tell my children, "We are related. They couldn't keep us away if they wanted to." I am grateful to all the people we are related to.