Cousins

 Last weekend, Mary and Josh (my daughter and son) and I were invited to celebrate my cousin Merlyn's 90th Birthday! Merlyn brought along her lifelong friend Marilyn (they met in kindergarten!) - don't they make 90 look great?! And what a beautiful day we had for this party in a park!

Marilyn and cousin 

Merlyn's mom Myrle was my dad Byrle's twin, and when my folks married in her parents home, my cousin played the piano for the ceremony. Their older brother, our Uncle Ole, lived to 103, and Merlyn helped organize a 100th BD party for him nearly 20 years ago! 

Josh and Mary

I'm so happy my kids joined me for this celebration! Our other first cousin, Ole's son John (94) wasn't able to come, but we were happy that Merlyn's brother Don (79) and his wife Lori made it. Our folks' cousin Carolyn is nearly 100 - Merlyn phones her regularly for a chat. 

Merlyn shared my mom's birthday, and they always enjoyed each other, and sent cards in celebration. 

Last fall, Merlyn, her daughter Joanne and scheduled lunch together, so I could meet cousin John's oldest daughter, Dianne, a year older than me.  We're glad we had that luncheonas, sadly, Dianne passed a month later, shortly after having back surgery!

Cousins Dianne, Merlyn, Nadya, Joanne
My mom's family has a reunion every summer, in celebration of her younger sister's birthday. After my aunt Letha  passed, we've continued with the reunions - my dad's family was always more sporadic about getting together.

A friend, Nadya and cousin Tracey in Bend
Those reunions are in Bend, at my oldest cousin Don's, and his son Tracey kindly invites me to stay in his guest room! 

Does your family celebrate together or have reunions?

Comments

  1. CherylOctober 5, 2024 at 3:16 PM

    wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MarthaOctober 5, 2024 at 5:14 PM

    Happy birthday to you cousin! When I was younger we had family reunions on my mom's side ever summer. As the cousins get older, many moved to different areas and it was hard to get everyone together. Then as the parents passed away, the reunions were non existing until a few years ago when my cousin started reunions up again! Still hard to get everyone together but she planned for those who couldn't make the trip to send photographs and call during the reunion so it was like they were there!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heart Song DreamsOctober 5, 2024 at 7:06 PM

      So glad your cousin started them up again! And what a good idea to have those who can't make it call!
      My aunt Leatha had 7 children, and one daughter's BD was right after her mom's, so they began by celebrating their birthdays each summer! The 3 oldest have passed, but one of the boys began hosting the summer reunion - and now younger cousins do the planning and legwork!

      Delete

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