The Gathering of the Cousins was an absolute blast. These cousins are all my relatives - two first cousins, C and L, are older - C is 60 and L is a year younger than me- and C's son S - S, the youngest, is 35 (though he looks 25 and got carded buying beer the other day, the little shit.) My kids had never met S, I hadn't seen him since he was in middle school, and C and L hadn't seen my kids since they were in elementary school (yes, we've been a really tight-knit bunch). But despite the long gap between visits and the wide gaps in ages, blood truly is thicker than water and all those cliches, blah blah blah, are cliches because they're true - it was like we'd never been apart. C dragged out old family photos to share with my kids, and family folklore and strange tales were shared over Coronas with lime and a table groaning with munchies. C drove us crazy rearranging us for group photos every few minutes. L had me on the floor with long-forgotten childhood tales, like how our sweet little 80ish great aunt had amazed her by slamming back boilermakers after our Gram's funeral. (Yes, we ARE Irish, why do you ask?) It's hilarious how people who spend no time together can have so much in common, and it makes me wonder how much of what we are really must be programmed into our DNA - my son and S have the same fast wit and sense of humor and were riffing off each other's stories in no time, and making plans to hang out the next time Boy makes one of his visits to his DC area friends. I know the gathering was a success, because it ended with my kids programming their newfound cousins' numbers into their cellphones and confirming email addresses.

Knitting photos and actual knitting content to follow later - right now I must get myself together for church. Girlchild turned around and drove back to Tallahassee last night, because friends from Jacksonville were in town up there for the weekend, so my plans changed again. We log a lot of highway miles in this family.