Pushing the Holidays

Summer of 1960-something - an Alleshouse family picnic.

This is the season of in gathering – inviting in the people and family we love for gathering around tables to laugh, share, and remember the year(s) past.

This year, none of us truly are interested in remembering this past year and there will be no gathering of family and friends. In fact, the most in gathering we have done involved bringing in the porch cushions and patio furniture to protect it from the weather.

It’s funny – last year, when we did that task, I distinctly remember feeling sad that we hadn’t used our outdoor furniture much at all. We had seven weddings – and a funeral – plus a few spectacular road trips that kept us away most of the warm outdoor season. It was sad to say goodbye for another winter to outdoor furniture that had not lived up to its promise of outdoor fun.

Not true for 2020. This year, of course, was the summer of hanging out at Porcho Myarda – on our porch and in my yard. It’s how we gathered and saw faces of those we loved – at a distance - but the laughter was sweet even then.

And now, here we are barreling into the holidays. Indoors. No gatherings.

So I have a proposal – I say we push out the holidays to next summer. Let’s wait for 6 months and have a Thanksgiving gathering over Memorial Day weekend. And if we hold off on gathering indoors, then there will be fewer people for us to memorialize that weekend.

As much as my childhood family loved gathering at Grandpa’s farm with our relatives over Thanksgiving, we also enjoyed seeing the cousins no matter when we gathered. The photo above is from the early 1960s in our Townview Circle side yard with our Alleshouse cousins.

And, a side note? Although nearly all of the older generation in this photo are gone, Aunt Marge is still with us at 103 and is as fun and interesting as ever. For that, I’m very grateful.