When I talk to my cousins or my sisters Milt and Jo always come up along with a feeling of comfort consisting of that "old-time feeling". I noticed over the years that although my cousins and I have moved forward in our lives, in so many ways we are on similar paths. It got me thinking about all of the similarities that exist in our everyday activities. Though we are living miles apart certain things that we do are exactly the same, the same way that our grandparents taught us to do them.
In the past when my sisters and I spoke or e-mailed our cousins a common bond brought us right back to when we were kids. We did not realize until we communicated that we were doing alot of the same things and the reason why was because of our grandparents. Alot of what they instilled in us stuck! So many times we laughed at the little examples in our daily life, whether it was the way we made a sandwich, the napkins we bought, or the familiar quotes we used. It brought us right back to Milt and Jo.
Whatever is going on in this crazy World my cousins, sisters, and I have a bond that has been interwoven into the very pattern of who we are. We did not know at the time just how much influence Milton and Josephine, our grandparents would have on us. How blessed we are to have known them! So today when we get together or talk, the same actions, songs, thoughts, and memories come flooding to the forefront of our minds when we discuss our lives.
Just today when I e-mailed my cousin, Ricky's wife, she explained that Ricky has to have his sandwiches with butter on them like Grammy used to make! My cousin, Rusty loves his "Mocha Roll" and Milt comes to mind when Rusty plays Blue Spanish Eyes, or Please Release Me on his saxaphone. My sister, Lisa and I, and cousin, Dana as well, loves to have a vanilla ice cream cone in a Comet Cup accompanied by a Vanity Fair napkin! I think we all love peanut butter and Beach Plum jelly and Gram's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake. Some of us loved her Sea Clam Pie and others not so much for it is an acquired taste. Gardening runs through our veins in this family and we can't get enough of it. Josephine was an avid gardener and growing up, Gram and Grampa's yard looked like Heritage Plantation in Sandwich, just breath taking. I can't help but think of Jo Gage when I see a red geranium in a clay pot.
When my cousin, Rusty was in Iraq I sent him an e-mail picture of Gram's old glass coffee perculator on our gas stove and wrote that upon his return he must come over for coffee with Carnation evaporated milk, just like Grampa drank it! Well, we had a wonderful reunion when Rusty got back in the States as we sipped coffee from Jo's old coffee pot, a gift I shall treasure forever.
