Cool Aunt Syndrome Strikes Again

Song of the Day: The General Specific by Band of Horses

So I drove a boat last night. In the dark. It was exciting.

Today was my grandma's birthday party at my uncle's house. While the general consensus is that my aunt Susie is insane (aunt Alice is awesome), their house is still the best place for gatherings. Actually I should amend that: Walter's place is best in the summer, Alice's is best for winter (Thanksgiving and Christmas). Walter's is on the other side of the water, kinda out in the sticks a little bit. They have a bit of land and a nice open deck that's awesome for barbeques.

So today's gathering was really awesome. It felt like more people were there than usual; a while back, there was this period of time where every family get-together felt really bare and it was kind of depressing. I'm toward the end of my generation's wave (there are two boys younger than I am). For a long time there was just always a gaggle of girls around my sister's age (I was JUST young enough for them to not want me around)--I say "gaggle" because 4 of those girls belonged to my uncle's group of 7 kids, 2 others were my dad's sister's kids, and there was my sister. I feel like I need to draw out a chart. Bottom line: lots of kids, mostly girls.

So eventually most of these girls went off to college and then a few of them got married. So they were off doing their own things. Suddenly a bunch of them showed up today and it was awesome to see all of them, plus their kids (the "next generation" is now up to three). Jack is only just over a year old but he's very quiet and I was never asked to hold him, so in my book he's right as rain.

What the hell was my original point? Oh right, the pleasantness of a big family gathering. I got some questions about college (which is starting to stress and annoy me) but it wasn't too in-depth, and it was nice to hear everyone catching up and getting along. I think my favorite thing was when I was sitting by the chips (which I generally do until someone comes over and talks to me) and my cousin came over and said, "Hey, we're going to the same school this year, right?" Now, this is the cousin who has said maybe a couple of obligatory "Hellos" to me in the last 8 years or so. He and his brother sort of took to hiding upstairs whenever company showed up. He turned 18 yesterday. It's so weird because he and his brother will always be about 10 and 8 to me, in khakis and plaid shirts. But here they are, growing up very nicely and, it must be said, very well dressed. And then to top it all off, Sam SPOKE to me! I guess it was just nice to see that the boys had grown out of the Hiding phase and were socializing like normal family members, making comfortable conversation. It was very worth their being pricks as children and hermits as young teenagers.

Then my uncle got out the spud gun. He and "The Boyfriends" (cousin Anna's boyfriend Louis and Steph's boyfriend) shot a few potatoes into the trees behind the house and the distance was pretty impressive. And the sound was AWESOME.

So what have we learned today, everyone? Every now and then, Emma enjoys a picturesque family scene. Chatting aunts, beautiful cousins with beautiful children (as long as the children are behaving, which they were), going from the kitchen to the back yard with potato salad and dodging said children, everyone cringing when Aunt Susie says things and knowing we can groan about it together on the ferry ride home. It's strange, considering my total lack of interest in a family of my own, how much I enjoy observing the growth of the ones close to me. I hope one day I'll be able to show up to these things with interesting stories. For the foreseeable future I'll have to stick to anecdotes exemplifying just how poor I am (unless I get a minimum-wage job for 10-15 hours a week--fingers crossed!).

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You are the burden of my generation / I sure do love you / But let's get that straight. -That Was Your Mother, Paul Simon