Wednesday medley

Terri's questions for the week:

Terri chose two subjects from this week's National Day Calendar for this week's Medley.

Family is important to all of us, I believe, so let's talk about

cousins and aunts and uncles today.  If you don't happen to have

cousins, aunts or uncles, tell us about those close to you who are like family.

Everything below this line is from the National Day Calendar website.

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NATIONAL COUSINS DAY – July 24

NATIONAL COUSINS DAY

National Cousins Day on July 24th recognizes the lifelong relationships that grow among cousins. Our first friendships often form with cousins as young as infants and endure a lifetime. 

Whether cousins grow up together in close-knit families or only see each other occasionally, they share shared memories through grandparents, aunts, and uncles. At family gatherings, cousins entertain each other and get into trouble together, too.  They celebrate birthdays and might even blow out the other’s candles to their cousin’s annoyance. When their siblings irritate them, cousins become an ally. Sometimes cousins seem more like siblings, especially if they’re only children.

As cousins grow up, watching their children grow reminds them of their youth. The cycle starts over.

The day celebrates every age of cousins – new baby cousins and cousins whose babies are all grown up!

HOW TO OBSERVE

Gather up your cousins and take a photo. Send a text to your cousins who are too far away. If you need to hear their voices, give them a call. Reminisce over the good times. Be sure to laugh about those things that didn’t seem so funny at the time.  Post photos on social media using #NationalCousinsDay.

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NATIONAL AUNT AND UNCLE’S DAY – July 26

NATIONAL AUNT AND UNCLE’S DAY

Aunt and Uncle’s Day is observed annually on July 26th. Through holidays, special family events and sometimes sleepovers, aunts, and uncles often hold a special place in our hearts. They fill our lives with fun, laughter, love and incredible memories.  

National Aunt and Uncle’s Day provides an opportunity to spend time with those relatives we trusted and leaned on growing up.  It would be an excellent time to get out the old photo albums. Look through the pictures, and relive the memories of earlier days around the Christmas tree or at the 4th of July picnic or maybe at the beach vacation that included those special aunts and uncles in your life. Get together with your relatives and create new memories. Remind them of all the reasons you enjoy having them in your life. Celebrate the lessons they’ve taught you and share them with the next generation. 

HOW TO OBSERVE

On National Aunt and Uncle’s Day contact your aunts and uncles. Remember all the value they’ve added to your life and tell them about it. Share a meal, write them a note, help them the way they once supported you.  Take photos with them and post them on social media using #AuntAndUnclesDay

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Everything above this line is from the National Day Calendar website,

1.  What can you tell us about your cousins, please, or someone who is close like a cousin?

I had 11 first cousins, all on my father's side of the family.  My father was the youngest of five children.  Three of his older sisters married young, my father first became an uncle when he was only 8 years old.   My father married later in life, so most of my first cousins were considerably older than me, and had children close in age to me or to my younger sisters. 

2.  Do you still see your cousins and will you contact them on National Cousins Day?  

My cousins (those who are still with us)  have become the "wedding, bar mitzvah and funeral" crowd. We talk o the phone or on Facebook, but ....

3.  Terri had a favorite aunt and uncle she will tell us about.  How about you?

I wasn't particularly close to my father's sisters, except for Aunt Sonia.  Unlike the other three sisters, Sonia never married, and she lived with my parents until I was 8 years old.  She died when I was 14.  

I was much closer to my mother's sisters.  We saw them almost every weekend.  My Aunt Eileen loved to to needlepoint, crochet, rug hooking, knitting...my daughter Jen still has the needlepoint Eileen made for her when she was born. Eileen died before Becca was born...

4.  Did/does your family have reunions and can you tell us about them?

No, sorry, we don't do reunions.

5.  If you have children, are they enjoying relationships with their cousins, aunts, uncles?

My daughters are very close to my sisters.  They don't have any first cousins. But my sister's best friend has three sons, and we consider those three young men to be part of our family.

6.  Tell us something random about your week so far.

Never underestimate the power of a plea bargain...even for a parking ticket.  I got my $75 ticket reduced to $25 ...