The visiting is done
I enjoy spending time with my family. It is endlessly interesting to review shared history and see it from different angles. I always come away with thoughts about who I am and where I have come from. This visit also gave me a chance to see more extended family as well. I saw aunts and uncles that I’ve not spoken to in years. It was good to catch up, but also overwhelming. There are so many of them and they all have so many children who then went on to have children. I can go to a family gathering and only recognize a quarter of the people there. Most of the conversations start with “Now who do you belong to?”
You see, my grandmother died giving birth to her 11th child. My grandfather then married a widow with five children of her own. My mother is one of 16 children. Those 16 children all got married and then had an average of 5 children each. I have 100 first cousins. I don’t even know most of them. The uncle who died was not one that I’d known well. But it was important to be there. It was important to reconnect with family. My uncle was afforded military honors for his service. The concussion from the three rifle volleys hit me with a physical impact. The bugle made me cry. I stood there, knowing that many people have stood similarly before. Someday it will be my turn to plan a funeral. But not today. Today I get to hug my kids and husband close.
By 10 am this morning all the relatives had gone home. I breathed the relief of having my house to myself again. No matter how much I love the people, being surrounded all the time is hard. I’m an introvert. Fortunately my family understands this. We’re all pretty introverted. So we socialize lots while we’re together and then decompress after the visit is over.