Thursday, March 27, 2003

Gone to Carolina Archive: My Sister's Kids

"I miss your sister's kids" my nephew Jake said to his mom a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I have to agree with him...I miss my sister's kids, too.
Now, I'm not really a "kid" person. Out of a group of a hundred, there might be only one or two that I really connect with. But if my nieces and nephews are in that group, the number jumps to 7. I actually enjoy all of my nieces and nephews very much.
Growing up, I really didn't know my cousins very well. As a military family, we didn't live any where near any of our relatives. My kids have had a totally different life than that. We lived right in the heart of our family for 20 years before moving to South Carolina. My kids know their Grandparents, Aunt and Uncles and cousins quite well. Even though my brother-in-law Jim moved to Maine with his family a few years ago, my boys still feel a connection to those boys, as they recall the days of running in a pack with them at family gatherings.
I think part of the reason this move has been successful for us is because we had so many years with our family first. It's been hard to be away from them, but we still feel like they are very close.
My Mom recently told me of a conversation she had with my niece Jessie. They were discussing my Mom's attempts to play a piece called "Frohlicher Landman" on the keyboard. Jessie said she didn't know that piece. Mom hummed part of the tune to her and Jessie said "Oh yeah, I know that one, but in my book it's called "The Happy Pheasant"!
I felt like I was standing right there.
Yeah, I miss my sister's kids.

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