Monday, September 14, 2009

Weekend Wrap-Up: Back from TX

We had a whirlwind of a weekend. Early Saturday morning, we boarded a plane to Texas for grandmother's 90th birthday party. We came back Sunday afternoon. Yes, I'm exhausted!

But it was fun. There are a lot of family members that I couldn't remember very well. Some of them, I haven't seen in 20 years, so I think that's to be expected. I think the best time was at my grandma's the next morning, hanging out in her backyard (perfect weather) while the kids picked pomegranates off the tree, and I chatted with cousins and the like.

My grandmother had nine children. Two of them went on to have eight children each. I have a lot of cousins. And second cousins. (Or is it great cousins? And are my cousin's children my children's second cousins?)

Quite a few of them have ended up in California. Only one daughter of my grandma's stayed there. People came from CA, NY, Virginia, Arizona, and generally from all over the country to celebrate her birthday.

She's still going strong. She still lives by herself, and while she gets help from my aunt and uncle that live there and visits a senior center to fill her days, she's very much an independent woman. I admire that a lot.

I, of course, forgot to bring my camera to the party, but I'm sure my mom and others will send pics for me to post at a future date. The family got there early to take pictures, and I've never before known what it feels like to have 7-8 cameras flashing! There was no red carpet, but we all felt like we were being swarmed by the paparazzi.

Everyone had a really fantastic time, even if we did forget some people's names and faces here and there. I suppose that comes with having such a huge and spread-out family.

I do, however, fear living to such a ripe old age. Grandma's house is paid off in full, and she has her late husband's pension to supplement the social security checks. Even if I do buy something someday, I can't imagine it being soon enough to ever be able to envision the day that housing is no longer a monthly expenditure. Even when my kids are raised, I'll still have to feed myself. I'm still living paycheck to paycheck and I don't even have a monthly car payment right now! I can't imagine a future in which I won't have to work to support myself.

Still, it was great fun to celebrate her 90th, and I hope we're all together again in 5 years for her 95th birthday.

5 comments:

Tara R. said...

Happy Birthday (belated) to your grandmother. It's good that so many of your family were able to get together to celebrate her birthday.

Unknown said...

Wow. 90...that's amazing. 90 years is a lot of life lived - she must have some great tales. And even more cool is that she's still kickin' it in her own home!

Your family sounds a lot like mine. Our last family reunion had about 150 attendees - some relatives whom I'd never heard of before :)

MindyMom said...

Glad you had a good time. Big family get togethers are always interesting. I haven't been to one myself in 20 years!

Shiona said...

That sounds like our family reunions. Glad to see you have a good reason to go to TX. I have some family there too or I would never venture there.

bernthis said...

I do too. I wonder if I will ever be comfortable again. I was for several years but it has been a while.