No matter what kind of life you had when you were growing up, most likely you have some good memories. My happiest memories were the times spent with my cousins in Rochester, NY.The cousins that I was closest to were the six children of my mother’s oldest sister and her husband, Aunt Eloise and Uncle Bob. They lived a few blocks away.
There was a bakery at the end of their street and we found that we could get fresh, broken cookies, if we hung around the back door. There were chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter, and molasses – all were delicious! Even better than the taste of those cookies was the aroma! Mmmm, mmm!
There was a movie theater quite close to my cousins’ house. It was filled with children on Saturdays because it only cost a quarter to get in. I especially remember cartoons, news, and Westerns. It was a great place to be.
Each summer we had a fair in my cousins’ back yard. The whole neighborhood was invited. We each had a different job to do. We thought we were pretty clever. One booth, draped with a blanket, had a sign, “See the monkey.” Inside was nothing but a big mirror!
There were contests at our fair. Who could run the fastest, throw a ball the farthest, or drop the most clothespins in a bottle. We always had prizes. We put our pennies together and would go to a toy store near our house. We could get an amazing amount of little plastic toys and trinkets for very little money. Perfect for our fair!
When I was in Fourth Grade our family moved to a different city neighborhood. My Aunt Eloise and Uncle Bob moved their family to the suburbs. They had a small ranch home on the canal. It was a tight squeeze with six children, but they made it work.
We didn’t have any more fairs, but the adventures continued. They had sock hops, and picnics. In the winter there was sledding and snowball fights. There was a bowling alley nearby. We would walk there on a Saturday and bowl a game or two and meet up with some of my cousins’ friends.
My cousin, David, was my age. When he came to my house we’d ride bikes, talk, and visit his Grandma, ‘Nana.’ She had an accent and it was sometimes hard to understand her, but you could feel her love and happiness that we were there.
The years have gone by and my Aunt Eloise and Uncle Bob have passed away. All of their children married and some of them moved quite far away. Their children have even had children now. My cousin Brenda’s daughter and her husband bought the house on the canal. Sometimes my other cousins and their families come back for a parade or a picnic or a family reunion. Something unusual always happens – like having a surprise birthday get-together for one of them and having everyone run into each other at a nearby bookstore.
Sadly, we lost one cousin Carl, this past year. I’m sure that things are livelier in Heaven with him there! It continues to be an adventure to be around my cousins. I am thankful for the happiness they brought into my life when I was growing up and I look forward to more good times.
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