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Washing Dishes
I wash a lot of dishes at my family reunions. It’s only fair. My aunt Nancy makes (or organizes) almost all the food. My Aunt Terry spends the after-dinner hour watching all the kids as they play in the yard. And my dad needs a break after four months of being the main dishwasher in my house. So, along with a few of my cousins, I wash dishes. Or I dry dishes. Or I put away dishes. I don’t mind it at all because the kids can’t bug me if I’m washing dishes and because I get to hang out with my cousins. My cousins are all so different from…
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The Oklahoma Clarks
I was upstairs packing last week, and I could hear Austin talking with a friend downstairs. “I can’t come over tomorrow because we’re going to see our cousins. We’re flying on a plane to Oklahoma!” Technically, we were traveling to see his second cousins. My cousin, Ellen, had moved with her family to Oklahoma a number of years ago and I’d never been to visit even though Ellen and I have always been really close. “Oklahoma?” everyone asked with skepticism when I mentioned I was going there. “What are you going to do there?” “I’m going to see my family,” I said. Was any other explanation needed? Everyone who has…
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The Clark Family
“Austin can’t come to the phone right now,” my aunt Nancy said to me. “He’s skinny dipping in the pool. I told him he needs to do it fast because the girls will be out there soon!” I laughed, and I could see the smile on her face as well. “Okay, well can I talk to Claire or Tommy?” I asked. In the background, Claire ran by and said, “I can’t talk now!” as she fell over laughing about something. I could see her performing some sort of skit (or dance?) for my Aunt Terry. They were both laughing, and Claire’s enthusiasm was matched by Terry’s. Nancy yelled for Tommy…
There’s No Handbook for How to Do This
