{Nephew Simon with his mother, my sister, Jackie
{Brothers Joseph and John
{Mom, Cousin Ann, Dad during Spring 2005 visit.
My large family met at our father's home Christmas day for a feast of food and conversation.
Five of Dad's eight children were there, along with four of the eight grandchildren and the sole great-grandchild. Even two in-laws showed (this takes courage) !
Though we'd lost mother in August, there was no lingering sadness in the air, though Dad of course mentioned that this gathering "would be the last time this many of us got together here (at his home at 565) until the day I die."
Being back at 565 at the same time as so many other siblings brought back a tumble of memories that sparked conversation ranging from the humorous to the poignant.
We have a huge kitchen area, and the discussion rambled from where we all sat at our round dinner table with a lazy susan to the childhood games we played on that lazy susan to the tricks played on one another there involving food.
Food.
This was one of the best feasts ever produced and brought here to enjoy. We had (from a brother and his wife) baked pork roast laced with lots of garlic, a turkey breast roasted with killer gravy, a batch of spicy turnips, some mustard greens, a vat of chicken gumbo and rice, and brownies (i have probably forgotten some things).
From one sister: lemon squares, raspberry crumbly squares, chocolate raisin peanut clusters, kumquats, and a green bean casserole to die for.
From another: Her special oyster dressing (an old family recipe - from another family !), and deer sausage and venison roast (from her boyfriend).
From another brother: a bread pudding.
I conjured up some fresh broccoli that I'd grown from tiny black seeds over the past couple of months and zapped that in the microwave just for a minute to retain crispness and green-bright color , then made up a batch of bechemel sauce to top it with.
There was some serious eating done that day.
There was also something that happened in our backyard that had not happened there in decades: a ball was kicked around. Some grandsons did the kicking of a soccer ball found there - from a nearby yard.
After some famous family stories were re-told and some limited catching up was done, the event was over after only a couple of hours - short by our family's past standards - and we dispersed.
There were mixed feelings that lingered inside me.
Although there was just a touch of the wild tumultuous atmosphere that's marked previous family get togethers, to keep things interesting, there's obviously only faint hope there will ever be any more of these kinds of gatherings - especially since mother's death, Dad's impending decline (he's 80), and the gradual but ever-so-steady loosening of those family ties that used to hold us so close.
We'll periodically have small, intimate gatherings i suppose - involving only a few (three or four at most) siblings - but the days of the large, boisterous, rambling get togethers seem to have passed into history for us.
It is a sentimental thought, a grasping for something that once was legendary, and now spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment