Week 29 - Cousins

A 'cousin' is a child of a parent's sibling.

Some of us have only a few and some of us have many.  I was lucky enough to grow up knowing my first cousin's and even second cousins. My mom was the youngest of five living siblings out of nine. Michael, Rexford, Agnes, Alice and Lorraine.

Between all of them, I was one of 15 total first cousins. Growing up, we met every year for Grandma's birthday and again during the summer for the Sheridan Reunion. And that didn't include weddings, funerals, other family events or taking a drive 'down home'.

                                         

                                                                       1958

My mom and her siblings were part of a total of 16 first cousins. That was from her Sheridan side of the family.  And on her Prince side she was part of 20 first cousins. In an era of barely one car per family, they seemed to meet up often as she would talk about spending time with different extended family members.


                                                  1930 Sheridan gathering 

My daughters are part of only four first cousins on one side of the family and 13 on the other side. The numbers continue to grow as we add more 2nd and 3rd generations.

                                 

That's a lot of statistics, but it doesn't include that my cousin Rexie was always there, but I can't remember much about him as he seemed older. I spent a summer at my cousin Tommy's house when I was four; I had had an accident on a bicycle and had to be in a wheelchair. As soon as I was walking again, Tom had me pushing him around the house! 

Becky loved horses and anything western when she was young. Sandy was a teen when Elvis showed up on the music scene...to this day, she is an avid fan. Cathy was a loving, giving soul and had a smile that would light up a room. Sally was always 'elegant' to me - she was older, and I was a younger one. Young Mike and John were suave and debonair.... 

I know I haven't touched on everyone, but you can see that we were a great bunch of kids and having spent so much time together it has left lasting memories on all of us.

                                              
Barbie, Becky, Tommy
                 
                                               
        Brother-in-law Mike and my 2nd cousin Stephen

Today, we don't gather for fun as often as we did.  Seems like life gets in the way all too often and our lives are much busier.

Back in 1985, my cousin Sandy suggested that we gather again for a good old-fashioned reunion, just like the old days. So, we planned it out, and we finally gathered in 1988 for the first time in a number of years.  For the next 25 years, we connected in August of every summer and had a chance to see each other and laugh and renew our 'cousin' relationships. Unfortunately, our last reunion was held in 2013.  We no longer meet with all of us each year. But many of us older ones attempt to find a day occasionally to have lunch together. The younger generations have moved on. Many moving out of town and out of state. Luckily the advent of Facebook, Snapchat and other social media has made it possible to visit. 

Not totally the same, but close.

Barbie








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