| | Family Gatherings
When we still lived in our old neighborhood, I remember
talking with a neighbor at the park. She
was saying how relieved she felt, now that her parents were finally back from
their month or so in Florida. Her parents lived on our block of the
neighborhood; she was on the other side.
She elaborated on how cooped up she felt having to be with her kids all.the.time,
and what a relief it would be to drop them off that afternoon and do the
grocery shopping kid-free. Her parents did
seem like really wonderful, involved grandparents. And I listened, murmuring agreement,
completely sympathetic.
And yet, since we are now living the closest we’ve ever lived
to parents (a mere 2.5 hours from mine and 9 hours from Dave’s) and no other
family closer than 1.5 hours, I really have no concept of what it’s like to
have family in town, much less in the same neighborhood. It sounds heavenly--not having to shop for
groceries with tagalongs, going on dates without having to call around for a
babysitter or feeling disappointed by the quality of care later, going
Christmas shopping together, making hair appointments during the day. All novel ideas.
I suppose if I were more extroverted I could quickly make
new “family” in our new locations, and certainly, before our four blessings
appeared, there were people we could just hang out with at the drop of a
hat. But somehow, with our busy schedule
and our reserved natures, I now find finding that “family” more difficult.
And since my parents moved away from their parents (in New
York and Pennsylvania)
and Dave’s parents moved from theirs (in Canada),
it seems natural for us (and our siblings) to have all relocated.
Still, I wonder if the giddy anticipation of family
gatherings makes up (some) for the long distance. When family is close, do you still eagerly
await the times everyone gathers together?
Do your kids exhaust reams of paper making notes and cards and
who-knows-whats for the next time they’ll all be together?
We spent Thanksgiving in North
Carolina in the Outer Banks. We rented a huge house with my mom’s two
sisters and their kids and my brothers and their families. The house was beautiful, right on the ocean
and enormous enough for the 22 of us to fit more than comfortably. Our kids and their four cousins (all boys)
ran all over, wreaking noisy havoc wherever they touched down. We grownups played lots of games, watched
movies, baked scrumptious food, and ate (because it wouldn’t have been
Thanksgiving if we hadn’t tried to finish off at least 10 or so pies among us). That is, unless you were sick the entire time
(which Dave was). And we missed my
sister, who was still recovering with little Peter in New
Jersey.
And we are now looking forward to the descent of Dave’s
family upon us for Christmas—24 to be added to our six for our Christmas
celebration, with 11 extras staying over for several days. Dave’s sister said in her blog that once
Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is in 2 seconds. So, I’m trying to prepare… and feeling very
excited….
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