I have been AWOL for a couple of days because I have been preparing for, attending, and recovering from The Father's family reunion. Seeing as this event was just yesterday, I'm far from recovered.
Way back in March, we got an invite from my cousin B to attend the reunion. I mentioned it to K and told him he could make the decision--I told him I would attend and enjoy myself, but if we didn't go, I wouldn't cry about it. He wanted to go, so that was that. (As he has told numerous people, HE gets along better with my family than I do.) I did get a bit excited about things, as I was told that people from a branch of the family that I never knew existed, would be there. I looked at it as an opportunity to make a REAL and GOOD impression on family members. ;)
So, my impressions of the day:
--The long-lost branch of the family turned out to be about 5 people. And they REALLY didn't seem like they wanted to be there. I'm not sure where the problem was--if it was them or the rest of the bunch--but they sat off to themselves and didn't even try to mingle. One of them was a girl of about 12--at least I THOUGHT she was twelve until I saw her smoking (which I was going to slap out of her hand because I THOUGHT she was twelve). She sat looking like someone had stuck a poker up her ass and she couldn't remove it. Also, she had a little girl who was SUCH a brat that even the strongest advocate for no corporal punishment of kids would have wanted to slap her silly. So, that branch of the family turned out to be a bust.
--About half of the people there were my cousin B's kids, her siblings and their kids, and their grandchildren. So, it was really mostly HER family reunion--and the rest of us were invited. (They all live near each other, so it isn't as if they need a reunion--they get together VERY often.)
--I found myself looking at several people--some that I went to school with--and thinking how old they were looking. Then it occurred to me, "I must look horribly old, too, as we ARE around the same age!" Kind of frightening! :)
--I got to talk a bit of hockey with several people. One of my shirt-tail relatives--didn't even know we were related when we were in high school--has a nephew-in-law that plays for Colorado. As soon as he mentioned that, I KNEW who he was talking about--THAT scared me and HIM, too. :) I know WAY too much about the NHL. (I didn't mention to him how much I DON'T like his nephew-in-law's aggressiveness on the ice. I thought it best to keep that to myself.)
--Mostly, there were the same-old, same-old faces that I was expecting to see. I got to talk a little to two of my cousins that I have very little contact with, but that was all. The rest I really don't care enough about to make the effort. The Father's youngest brother and all of his family didn't show up, so that kept the crowd quite a bit smaller than it could have been. THEY would have been interesting to see.
--At one point, one of my girls asked The Mother where The Brother was. (He didn't attend--his wife did, but she pretended I didn't exist, as usual.) The Mother answered, very quietly. I asked her to repeat what she said, and she got a little nervous and said, "Oh, R isn't here today." I guess he must have been acting like his usual jack-assy self--as usual. At least I didn't have to try to avoid him all afternoon.
For the most part, the day was fine. It isn't something I really want to repeat any time soon, but it didn't suck eggs as much as it could have. But, I will end this with one more story--one that will illustrate the kind of people who are my family. AND will show why I don't have much to do with them.
I have gained quite a bit of weight over the years. I don't pretend that I haven't, so I usually try to make some sort of joke whenever I see someone after a few years. That way, they don't have to talk about me later--which they WILL do--and say something like, "Doesn't she KNOW what she looks like?" Anyway, here is the story:
I was walking down the driveway to our vehicle, when The Father's sister was coming toward me. I smiled and said, "Hi. Aunt H." She looked at me--with the permanent scowl that she has on her face, getting deeper--and said, "WHO are you?" (It hasn't been THAT long since she saw me.) "I'm C--your niece! I guess you didn't recognize me as I have gotten so fat and sassy!" (All of this said with a big smile on my face.) She then looked me up and down and said, "YOU said it, I didn't." And then she walked away. Nice and rude--just the way I think about my family. And people wonder why I don't have anything to do with these people.
Notes From A Reunion
