I am so grateful for the people I’ve meet on these here innerwebs. For instance, when asked a few to share travel stories while I was gone THEY SAID YES! Who knew?? Churlita, a rather Churlish Figure, lives just a few hours south of me with her teenage daughters who are about the same ages as my teenage sons. hmmmmmm.

Anyway, here’s a story about how much fun traveling to family reunions can be and how much you can learn by traveling with extended family.

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Tonight I’m going back to Breckenridge, Colorado in the year 2000. We went for my paternal family reunion.

My brother was nice enough to foot the bill for most of it, but that meant that we all rode together in one car and stayed in the same condo. We liked to think that we were adult enough to handle it. What we found out, was that around each other, we regressed back into the kids we were the last time we all lived in the same house. I’m sure if my brother had sung, “Tararaboomdeeyay. There is no school today. Our teacher passed away. I shot her yesterday,” I would have chased after him, crying like I did when I was five. For the most part, I was defensive which seems to be my family role - that and the diplomat. I calm my one sister down and become extremely defensive around my other. My brother and I avoid conversations that would require us to take on any kind of roll with each other. It’s so much easier with him.

The trip was great on the whole. Everyone in my extended family kept telling me how great I looked. At first I was flattered, but then I realized that none of them had seen me since junior high - before braces, my skin cleared up and there were hair products to tame the frizz. I should find out if there’s a junior high class reunion, I could be so popular there. The girls really loved Breckenridge too. It was the first time they had seen mountains. We spent money on horse back riding, hay rack rides and Alpine slides, but what they loved the most was just playing in the river, collecting rocks and splashing. I could have saved a few dollars had I found that out sooner.

By the end of the week, my extended family had also started to decline. My cousins were bitching about their brothers and sisters and even my aunts came into our condo to complain about each other (since we were the only family that didn’t have a living sibling of theirs, we were the safe house). So, I guess it never ends. When we’re sixty, we will still probably call each other after family gatherings to vent about one another. I haven’t spent that much time in close quarters with my siblings since our trip. I find it’s easier to love my family in theory rather than in practice.
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

All this and Rocky IV 2007
Thankful for… 2006
What would you do? 2004

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

All this and Rocky IV 2007
Thankful for… 2006
What would you do? 2004

— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

All this and Rocky IV 2007
Thankful for… 2006
What would you do? 2004

Posted on November 23rd, 2008 under bloggers, friends, travel. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.