Nerdy Apple Bottom

The Detective has met a handful of people that are related to me. This is partly due to the fact that I do not come from a big family and partly due to the fact that we are a pretty dysfunctional one.

So I have a brother that he’s never met. Nor have my kids. Whenever my brother’s name is mentioned, the Detective repeats it and puts air quotes around it. He’s is not entirely convinced that my brother exists.

The Detective has met both my parents, my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandfather that passed away several years ago. He’s met my aunt and uncle about 10 years ago. And might have been in the vicinity when the other uncle was around.

But Thanksgiving weekend brought the mother load. He met my cousin, her husband, and their two kids. (Technically I met the husband and kids for the first time also.)

It was great for my kids to meet some of MY people. The Detective has a large family. And they mostly live in the area. He grew up here. This place is steeped in his memories.

Not mine. There is nowhere that I can take my kids and show them where I hung out as a child or where I fell and cracked my chin. Well there are, but other people live there now. Not my people.

But they were able to meet my cousin. She was my “brother”‘s age so they hung out more than we did. She has a younger sister close to my age. I hope to see her soon too. But we have shared memories. We remember my grandparents’ house and making pies and the samples Grandpa used to get from his work. We remember meals around the kids’ table and the old camper. We remember my great grandmother (she even named her daughter after her) and killing snakes. We remember bee sting stories and riding bikes on the dirt roads. We remember my grandma’s long, horrible cancer and subsequent death on Christmas Eve. We remember each other.

Her kids were so sweet and well behaved. And really great with my little boys. Mine were ehhh… ok. It was really great to look out and see them all running around the backyard, swinging or sitting on the teeter totter. It reminded me of lazy days at our grandparents’ just wandering around Moany Meadow or swinging in the barn.

Here’s Slim being a pain in the ass by not looking or smiling. And why Bubba felt he needed that car that turns into a shark with him in every picture is beyond me.

And here Slim is either sniffing his cousin or getting ready to eat her.

And finally, here’s my mama, my cousin, and me.

Of the 7 of so photos the Detective snapped, this is the only one where more than one of us is looking towards him. He’s not the best photographer. But that’s ok. We’re family.