thoughts on family

Today was my great-aunt Hazel's funeral. She had been in the nursing home for some time now. She went through hip replacement about a year ago and went downhill from there, and she had pneumonia about six weeks ago which just made things so much worse. At the funeral, one of my cousins, Katie, sang beautifully. I didn't even know she could sing. I saw my cousin Sara's six week old daughter, as well as her older two. I had never met them before, and they're so cute. They have the longest hair, just like their mom. I realized today just how disconnected we are.

If I had to tell you any of my cousins' birthdays, I couldn't. If you were to ask my mom's favorite color, I'd tell you mauve since she used to always pick lipsticks in that color, or maybe green because she likes to garden, but I don't really KNOW. I talk to her on the phone everyday and go to her house at least once a week, so it's not like we don't communicate. With distant family, I think it was different when I was a kid, at least on my mom's side. I can remember big family meals for Thanksgiving and on Sundays different relatives would usually visit my grandmother, who lived across the street. But then people who were the "glue" of the family started dying, and things changed. Relatives on my dad's side would come down, too. There were just fewer it seems, and the two sides rarely all got together. There wasn't a feud or anything so dramatic. It was just scheduling.

If I ever get to have children, I doubt they will be very close to their cousins either, because I don't think any will be close to their ages. My cousins have already built families of their own, and I think one is planning to have another at some point because she has two boys and has told her grandmother she wants a girl, but she's the only one I know of who is planning to have more.

Speaking of kids, Tina and I are going to get to see our friend Keli's baby tomorrow. I'm so excited about that. She was born on Father's Day and weighed almost six pounds, so she's still tiny. Tomorrow, I also have to finish some last minute things for vacation so I can take it easy Friday. I think we're leaving around 2:00 am Saturday, so I picture napping some on Friday.