Kindred Spirits
There’s a special person in my family that I hold so dear to my heart. I haven’t been in day-to-day contact with him for years until he and his wife, Cathy, relocated back to the Midwest and we caught up on everything cousins. It’s been a unique and personal bond that I cherish and although he is moving back to Arizona to be near his children, I will miss him dearly.
His father was a beloved man to all of us growing up. He was my mother’s favorite brother whom she adored and when he passed of a heart ailment many years ago when my cousin was very young, it rocked her world, along with the rest of us. My Uncle Harold had a calm demeanor, was soft-spoken, and carried himself with dignity. When he died, my mother sobbed for days and didn’t want to believe he was no longer here. I remember I hadn’t attended any funerals, and I remember my mother asking me if I wanted to attend. Of course, I wanted to, not knowing how much of an impact a funeral has on young children at the time.
As I look back, I can’t imagine how much this affected my cousin, only about ten years old and now without a father figure to guide him during this life. But as he grew up, he joined the Marines, which isn’t an easy task, and married. He’s proud to be a Marine, and I’m proud of his service which took him out of the country. He keeps the wartime experiences to himself but proudly loves this country that we call America.
The Cole Cousins
Over the past several years, a few of my cousins who live in the Midwest started having lunch together during the summer months. This has been an ongoing event since my Marine cousin moved back to the Midwest. And true to form, he jumped at the chance to meet up with all of us. Those lunches brought back memories of playing with our cousins in the backyard, having picnics and Fourth of July celebrations because that was commonplace for our family on my mother’s side.
They also brought back so many memories of our Grandmother Cole, whom we all loved so much. There is a Cole trait that speaks to us that we adored in our grandmother: be kind, laugh at yourself, and work hard, which I can say most of us carried into adult life. Our grandmother always wore a dress, walked everywhere, worked well into her elder years, and was the most generous person with her time, her patience with us when we were young, and her love. None of us felt deprived after visiting her and she loved the company.
These have been the most precious moments of reminiscing about when we were young, what we got away with as kids, and the pure joy of our aunts and uncles getting together on the weekends or holidays. And we have a bond that our mothers and fathers were siblings. I don’t remember them arguing about politics or having quarrels about anything. My aunts and uncles were down-to-earth Midwest people enjoying their families and sharing food, company, and an occasional beer.
The Last Supper
My cousin moves back to Arizona next week. The truck is loaded, the pets in tow, and the U-Haul attached to the vehicle. It’s a long way from Michigan to Arizona, but they have decided to take their time and already have a home to rest their heads when they arrive.
Having dinner with them one last time was a reminder of how thoughtful and caring these two people are as they never really want to talk about themselves. They would rather discuss the present moment, enjoy the meal, and sit in your presence. Because it’s never about them. And he always hugs us so warmly that you feel his love through and through. I love that about him.
The trip will be a long one, as they plan to travel for about five to six days before they arrive at their home in Arizona. And that speaks about their patience and how to approach the trip. Slow and methodical wins the day.
I’m excited for them to reunite with their children – and the grandchildren, among them triplets, who they say are terrors, but how can three five-year-olds be anything but adorable? How wonderful to have such lively young people to go back to. Grandma Cole would have loved that. My cousin and his wife have twins of their own, and wouldn’t you know it, one of their twins now has triplets. I remember Grandma Cole writing me about them having twins, and she was super excited. She talked about them all the time, and when my cousin brought the twins to see her, she was overjoyed and so happy.
It will be a bittersweet journey as they leave the Midwest and travel back to their own children to settle in Arizona. I’m happy for them as I know their children will welcome them back and pick up where they left off when they relocated several years ago.
Until We Meet Again
Thank you, Ricky, for allowing all of us to get to know you better. It’s been a blast talking about when all of us were young, and how our mothers and fathers connected all of us on the Cole side. I cherish you and your family. I hope we stay connected with each other and you let all of us know how the “little terrors” are doing. This is not goodbye, as we all promised to visit and hopefully, during the following years ahead we can do that and you can introduce us to your beautiful family.
Family stories like these are where so many of my characters begin.
It’s not goodbye. It’s OORAH, as they say in the Marines.
Keep writing.
Dianne
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