On October 28th, I drove to Erie for a BIG and very important party. My Aunt Mary was turning 90!! No one should make that milestone without a big celebration! Now, Aunt Mary was quick to tell you that as of last Sunday, she was NOT 90 yet, even though we were celebrating her birthday. She didn't actually turn 90 until Monday the 29th. As long as we all understood that fact, Aunt Mary was jiggy with the celebration.
Hurricane Sandy be damned. Aunt Mary was important enough to face Sandy for the drive in to Erie. Aside from some rain on the drive into Erie, I had an uneventful ride in to town. The drive home was another story. What a mess. But, I digress.
Let me tell you a little about my family in Erie. Growing up, we lived in a flat that was owned by Aunt Mary. She and her two sons lived downstairs and our family lived upstairs. Aunt Mary is one of my Mom's sisters. My Mom and her sisters were very close. We literally grew up with our cousins. Aunt Mary's two boys, Aunt Aggie and her two kids. Aunt Annie and her two kids. Aunt Helen and her four kids. My Mom with her six kids! We ranged in ages but each one of us was close with at least one other person in our age group. Sunday dinners were HUGE. Holidays? Forget about it. Aunt Aggie actually tore down WALLS in her house so that we could all fit in her house for dinner! You walked in her front door and into her living room. For a holiday dinner, a table would be set up starting right inside the front door and table after table after table would be set up so that you went from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen. She easily sat 20 to 30 people for dinner! Aunt Aggie had the wall knocked out that used to be between the living room and the dining room because she felt it separated the family. It didn't feel like we were all sitting together for dinner! Down came the wall, up went the tables and you had family dinner!
This is the kind of family I grew up with. More cousins than I could count.
Then life happens. People get married, they move away, you lose touch. I think some of these people I saw at my Dad's funeral in 2007, others I haven't seen since my Mom's funeral in 1997. Like I said, life happens. And like most families, now we catch up at funerals. That's one of the things that made this party extraordinary. We were together to CELEBRATE for a change, not catch up at the next funeral.
Let's start looking at the celebration! First off is the birthday girl herself, on her last day of being 89!!
I don't think I've ever seen Aunt Mary look so beautiful! She absolutely glowed, especially when the great grandchildren were around! God Bless Aunt Mary on her 90th birthday party!
Her siblings, my Mom's siblings, all came from near and far to celebrate with Aunt Mary. Out of 11 children, here are the living siblings:
From left to right is my Uncle Steve from the San Antonio Texas area, Sr. Margaret Elaine, from the Pittsburgh area, Aunt Mary from Erie, Sr. Rose Ann from the Pittsburgh area and last but not least, my Uncle Mike from the San Antonio area. What a lovely group! And, so nice of everyone to make the trip to celebrate with Aunt Mary!
The birthday girl was treated like a celebrity all day, complete with photo ops! Everyone had a camera and everyone wanted group shots with the birthday girl.
First, Aunt Mary with one of her favorite nieces and some of her favorite nephews!
Aunt Mary was always a second mother to all of us, living so close. She watched over us almost as much as our own Mom. We love our Aunt Mary!
Here is Aunt Mary with the men in her family.
From left to right in the back row:
Aunt Mary's son, Bill. Bill's sons Kyle and Sean. Dan, Matt, Marty who are Aunt Mary's son Marty's sons. My cousin Marty is on the far right.
At Aunt Mary's sides are two of her great grandsons. Unfortunately, I know the boys are my cousin Marty's grandsons, but I'm really not sure which of his sons they belong to. Once we get down to that generation, I am a little fuzzy. But, I will tell you that Dan and Matt are my two godsons. I can't believe these kids who's diapers I changed and who I babysat at every opportunity I could are now grown men. It's amazing that these kids went and grew up when I wasn't looking! Beautiful family!
I somehow missed the pictures with the women in her family! Her daughters-in-law and the wives of the grandsons and of course the great granddaughters! Sorry for the omission. I'll try to go back through the pictures and add more later.
It's later! And now here are the pictures of the ladies of the family!
First it's Aunt Mary and her son Marty and his wife Jeanne on the left. On the right is her son Bill and his wife Sue.
And here is Aunt Mary and her girls! I told you that I got confused once we got beyond my generation! In this pictures is Aunt Mary, her two daughters-in-law, two great granddaughters and one granddaughter-in-law! I know the granddaughter-in-law is married to Dan but I didn't get her name. My apologies to my whole family!
So there you go. Aunt Mary and the ladies of her family.
I actually played the social butterfly which it totally out of character for me. During the festivities, I ended up sitting at every one's table at one time or another! I had a coffee cup sitting at every table it seemed! We all hugged and tried to catch up. I thought everyone still looked great! Maybe a few gray hairs, maybe a wrinkle or two. It was like I went back in time with everyone. What was really hard to wrap my mind around is all of these people in MY generation that were talking about being GRANDparents. WTF. These people are MY age. I remember all of their kids. They were all small little ankle biters, some of them still in diapers. How can THAT generation now be doctors, lawyers, get married and have kids of their own. For real, that is mind blowing.
It was great to get face to face time with so many family members. I have a ton of email addresses. Now it's up to me to keep those lines of communication open. I hope I don't drop this ball.
So, happy birthday to one of our favorite aunts, Aunt Mary! I can't wait to see what happens at next year's birthday party!
Thanks to Jim and Phil who provided some of the pictures I used here today.
1 comment:
Great pics and nice family time. Family, the most precious thing we owe.... Must have been awesome.
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