Well, the gang is all here. Hopefully, during the Thanksgiving Holiday we will have everyone here. We will have all of the kids, all of the grandkids, and maybe even some extended family. We are going to have Mom and Dad Hardy here. They live with us and it is a special season in my life. Yes, the gang is all here.
You might think that this comment would be regarding conversation between two consenting adults. Nope!! You are wrong. Its about a very mundane thing that happens when a family and all of its extended connections get together. Yup, we are talking garbage cans overflowing, and garbage day at least a week away.
It happens at my house when the whole fam damily arrives, and it has happened here in Cheyenne, Wyoming, when the whole fam damily arrives and we produce sack after sack of garbage. Yesterday, I think I personally hauled out 5-8 sacks of garbage and the trash can, which only gets emptied graciously by the city once a week, is over flowing and then some.
I think it may be time to make a garbage run to city dump. Of course, given the time of year in Cheyenne, the chances that the place would actually be open is about zero, and if we take the sacks out there, the chances are high they will be in Lincoln, Nebraska before sunset.
Family reunions are a fun event, some times. Sometimes they can be inconvenient and worse, someone can insult you and create an incident that can destroy the family. We have had a lot of reunions this past summer, and have enjoyed each and everyone. I think the best reunions are when you are with your own kids as they have become adults. It is so fun to see the family enjoy each other, and hopefully, no one says anything that they will later regret. While getting older is not always something that I enjoy, I do enjoy these wonderful family reunions.
Here it is again, turkey day. It is that time of year when we go out and see how much we all can eat so we can get sick from eating too much. Supposedly this is a family event, but it doesn’t matter, we spend more time making it, talking about it, setting it out just right, and then consuming it, than really intermingling as family.
Sometime there are some subtle family tensions and currents visible as we meet together. Our families love big events, and as such you are bound to be breaking bread with someone that you either don’t like, or don’t approve of what they are doing or how they are living their lives. With this being the case, those little problems seem to pop in droves.
I think sometimes I prefer Thanksgiving as a quiet holiday that you just have as an immediate family and keep the fun down to just a few. I hate being part of 30 or 50 people. It loses it for me when it gets that big. At least this year it isn’t being held at my house. This is the ultimate test for the politician, to be out among the people meeting and greeting them. I fail this test time and time again, and thus really shouldn’t be considering running again for political office.
Oh Thanksgiving, I enjoy you, but I also hate you.
One of the fun things about getting together is the impromptu singing that seems to break out if someone is playing a song. Of course, sometimes the intent is to make fun of the family member that is playing the song (Julie for example) but a lot of the times it is just because the family seems to like to sing. That suits me just fine. I like to sing and I like to have fun. I like engaging in family harmonics.
Going to a Family Reunion is one of those Life’s Balancing Acts that we all experience because we are human beings, raised in families. On the one hand, you want to be with family, enjoy their company, and have a good day. Yet, you know that you are getting together with people all of which have different and unique personalities, interests, and opinions. It is at this point that it becomes one of those balancing acts.
You hear something said that you know is crazy, not true, or maybe is an outright fabrication and you want to jump in and correct that person. If you do, that is when the fireworks start, the feelings get hurt, and perhaps those people will never come to another Family Reunion again. What do you do?
Being the type of person that tends to want to make everyone happy, and make sure that no one’s feelings get hurt, you tend to try and avoid making a direct confrontation that will bring that eventual heartache. However, I also find that as I get older I am less likely to suffer fools or their opinions, and am willing to risk hurt feelings to make sure that what I believe is truth does prevail. I don’t know what the right or wrong thing is to do. I just know that it makes going to a Family Reunion or a more challenging experience than the ones I attended way long ago, when I was a child, each reunion a new adventure, and cousins were people I played with and had a grand time. Why can’t it be like the good old times? Perhaps the good old times were not that great. I just don’t know the answer to these questions.
I had a wonderful day yesterday. I didn’t do much of anything if it is measured by the number of projects that I have finished, people I have visited with, meetings attended, or just plain money earned. It didn’t amount to much if you measure it by the adoration of the world, the acknowledgment of what you accomplish by statesmen, or if you measure it by how your yard looks. It also didn’t amount to much if you measure it by how the day was recorded for posterity.
However, it was great because I was able to sit with my family, enjoy their friendship, company, and conversation, and most importantly for us old people, get to hold our grandchildren and play with them. As we get older, a lot of things tend to start working not as well as advertised. The old ticker begins to have problems, we gain weight and can’t seem to get it off, the blood pressure is out of line, and our blood sugars may not be in line with guidelines. However, one thing we get to see is life renewed, the hope of the race through those choice spirits that come to us as our grandchildren. I got to hold and feed each one of our two grandchildren, and it was a treat. I love their parents and my children, but I also deeply love those grandchildren. They are a special treat to us old people.
I love spending a holiday or special day with the family. Today is Easter. We have had the opportunity to be with the family today, and that has been a wonderful opportunity. I love watching my children, and now my grandchildren, as they interact with each other and as we share their lives. Yes, being a father and a grandfather has been a wonderful experience.
Well, we have spent the last several days in Laramie with our son Gordon and daughter in law Christie. We have had a fun time with all of the kids, and while the event that we came for hasn’t happened yet, it was still a great time. We are waiting on the arrival of Merinda Elizabeth Hardy. It will be great when she finally arrives. At this point, if it doesn’t happen before Tuesday, it will happen Tuesday.
Well, Bonnie and I made it up to Wyoming to attend the wedding of a friends child. The children will all be there too. Therefore, yesterday we had a chance to get together with the kids.
I can’t help but say that I had a good time with the family. This time in an adults life can have a lot of payoffs, and this was one of them. We had a family picture taken of us and all the kids, we had two meals together, and of course, we got to fawn over and hold our new grandchild. It is so fun to have this type of a reunion. It wasn’t an official reunion, and it was better than an official reunion. We had a lot of fun.