Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and More

My grandparents and Stuart’s grandparents of course are all gone, many years ago.

My parents died in more recent years but we miss them, of course. Stuart’s mother died when she was only 53, so I never had the opportunity to know her.

I also miss having aunts. I don’t think I have any aunts as such. I don’t miss Uncles much, they tended to tease me too much for my shy self.

We do have cousins still, and are able to visit those who live around here, and occasionally visit those in other states.

Family. My husband treasures what he learned and loved from my father. I also enjoyed his father—especially in the summer when we’d see him tilling gardens and sharing tomatoes and potatoes and more with whoever asked. He sold some too.

We are tremendously grateful for the children and grandchildren we have. Seven now, and done. Will we have great grandchildren? Time will tell, I’ll be surprised but you never know.

At any rate, family members who are loved and special and even those who are not your favorite, are quite precious. The connections. The camaraderie. The memories. The “remember when we did this” stories. Distant cousins who drive you somewhere if you need a way to get to a train or plane.

Me and my siblings were oh so fortunate to live in our house with Grandma and Grandpa (my Dad’s dad and mom). They lived in one room (a bedroom with a few chairs and dressers. They had a small kitchen, and an even smaller bathroom, attached to my Mom and Dad’s much larger house with an upstairs and a basement. I was blessed to be served a cup of coffee given to me by my Grandma when I would go or sneak over to their kitchen on a Saturday morning (when I didn’t have school). Grandma would carefully fill half a cup with coffee and the rest with milk. She died in 1961 when I was ten years old and she was 85. She was mother of nine children (two who died young) and she herself lost her mother when she was only five, and had to be raised by relatives. One relative spanked her when she accidentally wet her bed … which she remembered and told us about. She married Grandpa Miller when she was only 17.

And Grandpa, even though he was in his upper 80s (and lived to be 91), would still get down on the floor with us and help organize a child-sized barn—which my brother Terry loved (who grew up to be a farmer for awhile).

Grandpa and Grandma were married 67 years. They had 25 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren: what a bunch of cousins we had—so many they were hard to keep track of—first cousins, second cousins, third cousins and more. We were also blessed that many cousins would come to our house to see our grandpa and grandma—and we didn’t have to go anywhere special to see them! They were married in 1893. Our oldest aunt, Susie was named Susie Elmira and I’m kind of fascinated that Susie’s middle name, Elmira is so close to my youngest granddaughter, whose name is Amira Melodie. I don’t think my daughter knew that when they picked a name so near Aunt Susie’s middle name. And kudos to my daughter for using my name in our youngest grandchild’s name.

Confused and can’t follow?  That’s ok. That’s what children and cousins and grandparents are for!

Enjoy the relatives you have, if at all possible. Whenever possible. Send a card. Make a phone call. Love them all, even those who may be hard to get along with. Family can be precious, and I am so grateful for ours.

Next time, we’ll look at my mother’s side of the family! Not as many cousins, but many fond memories as well!