Patriarch

I wrote last week about visiting my grandfather, and how concerned I was about him. I wasn’t the only one, so when my cousin Bill was coming down from Rochester with his family, I floated the idea that instead of going to a restaurant, we should do a barbecue at my grandfather’s house, that way we could all get together and have space to actually have fun (my grandfather’s property is about 10 acres near West Chester, PA). Everyone seemed to think that was a good idea, so we arranged it with my my grandfather and my two uncles who take care of them. It was a bit weird, since they all had to work and wouldn’t be there at the beginning of the event, but assured us that it was no big deal.

So, it was a great chance to see people that I don’t get to see nearly often enough, as well as have my wife meet some of my family that she hadn’t met before. My cousin Mark came with his family, Bill and his family, my aunt Fran and cousin Karen, and of course, Grandpop, Joey and Michael. So, it was a great time seeing the crowd. I haven’t seen Bill for about 6 or 7 years, and his kids have grown up quite a bit in the intervening time. Bill Jr. is a tall and thin 14, while his sister Blair (aka ‘the other Blair’) is a delightful and fun young lady. And she walked around all day with a football – gotta love that.

Joey had built a large stone barbecue in the back, so we had plenty of room to cook, and the large yard provided space for soccer, tossing the football around, etc. And the food – we were supposed to bring the veggies, fruits and fixings, Mark and Lisa the meats and Franny the desserts (Billy was off the hook – he was a guest); however, everyone brought ‘just a little bit more’ so we had an outrageous amount of food – Italian party planning at its best. And everything was delicious, too. I was stuffed to the gills within an hour, but just as everyone else did, I kept eating throughout the night.

And we had a good time. It was great to catch up with Bill, sit and talk to Mark and my uncle Michael, reminisce about my days as a youth growing up in this house (I surprised my Uncle Joey with my memories of him, Michael and their sister Anne Marie coming home from high school – I was probably 3 at the time). And my grandfather, despite his gruffness, seemed pleased by the party. Grandpop has always been the patriarch of the family clan, the curmudgeonly fella with a sharp wit and a sharper tongue, an often abrasive manner but an even more generous heart. He’s getting on in years now, but he seemed to really enjoy having his family around him.

As everyone is growing up, it gets harder to get us together – I have to think we’ve been ridiculously fortunate that we haven’t had many funerals to attend, so our ‘gatherings’ have been sporadic at best. I’d like to meet more often under the happier side of circumstance, because I really like my family. But it’s only going to get harder as people spread out, families get larger and ‘the kids’ get older. But it’s great to know that when we are together, we still always have a great time.

To see more pictures from our party, check out my Flickr set of the event.

Simpsons Fun!

• Kwik-E-Mart – a real store in Burbank, CA straight from the Simpsons!