Cousins Reunion

Oh what a gorgeous weekend! The past four days were sunny, warm, and dry. With the help of a friend (and more to come) I have a good portion of the flowers weeded. I was also able to spend time on the deck relaxing.

Over a year ago I received a phone message from a woman I did not know stating that she might be my cousin. No one had ever heard of her but it sounded plausible. I'm pretty trusting and called her back and agreed that she probably was a cousin. She has at least 3 other siblings....2 brothers she is trying to locate. The baby (and black sheep of the family) is her dad. We've tried to arrange a meeting.......but one thing or another prevented it. She lives about 2 hours from here. Then my cancer came back...............how long would I be here? Would I actually get to meet Lori?

As Grandma Mathison (my mothers's  mother) would say " We are not long livers" Meaning our family doesn't live to be a ripe, old age. Our grandparents and parents have passed away. I am not the oldest cousin, but I'd say the older ones are no more than 5-8 years older. Unfortunately our family has not remained close.

two gorgeous book ends with a sprinkle of pretty (my sister) in the middle

oldest to youngest

You might be able to tell that Matt is adopted....no one else has a beard, 

Finally the day came..............Lori was coming here on Saturday, I invited 2 of our other  cousins to come also. No, I was not nervous or scared. But....my 'cleaning man' AKA Kevin, was going away for a golfing weekend. He'd be home saturday night so we changed the date to Sunday. He got home saturday night and cooked and cleaned Sunday morning. 

My 'new' cousin is worse that my sister, she was here really early. No problem, I was expecting my sister early too. We had a good laugh after I broke a glass and Lori and (her friend) Karen started to pick up the glass from the deck. Lori fell over, on her back. and was laying on the deck....and I didn't get a photo. She had knee surgery in Dec and forgot that her knees don't bend like they should.

We had a good afternoon; looking at photos, remembering, getting to know each other, etc.

Thank you to Pat and Mike, Matt and Jamie, Lori and Karen, Sandy and Lisa, and especially to Kevin for doing all the hard work for this. Actually it was not hard! I really wish we could do this a couple of times a year!!!! I love having get togethers!