By Beauty Damned

My brother and I witnessed my grandma Eloise's drowning when we were small children.

oh dear. that's certainly not something that a child (or anyone for that matter) should ever had to witness. I'm sorry. :(

So I ate the empanada and had a glass of homemade Coquito before collapsing from severe overconsumption and slept for the next 2 hours.

since I'm too lazy to look it up, what's Coquito?

The death of my grandma was one of the most traumatizing events of my lifetime. But she's been my guardian angel ever since, so I have lots of faith that she's still with me and all things, even the most tragic, must be accepted.

Coquito is a latin variation of egg nog. It's made with eggs, coconut milk and condensed milk and cinnamon and all kinds of other good stuff. Usually rum is added. And if you're me, there is also a little extra rum splashed on top. For the dead homies, of course. ;o)

My grandmother's mother and father were first generation Americans and bore, no kidding, 17 children. Now I've watched my wife endure one pregnancy and know how busy we are with one child. Were you to do the math on my great grandmother's pregnancies -- you'd come to the conclusion that that hearty women spent nearly 25 years, at the least, pregnant.

It's no wonder she died young (late fifties). Back to my point... Obviously I have a gazillion cousins and second cousins from my Mom's side. Do you know how many I have met?

One. And it wasn't pleasant.

BUT! I'd love to meet the rest someday but I doubt it will happen and that's kinda sad. But at least I have a few great Uncles I stay in touch with.

no offense, Maria, but that just made me gag. I absolutely abhor eggnog. I'm not sure what it is about the stuff but I can't even stand the smell.

My family tree goes back a few more generations than Gordon's but they were only slightly less prolific. My father was the caboose of 13 children. Mom was the caboose of 8. They had 5. Their parents came from families ranging from 5 to 12. Mrs 403 and I only had 2 ... underachievers comparatively. Like seeds in the wind each generation spread across the country. Physical distance prevented us from visiting very often. Only once did we live in the same town as other family. My sister is our unofficial keeper of familial contacts and all things genealogical. She seems to enjoy finding and meeting some very obscure connections as well as those our parents kept in touch with. Phone calls with her are always filled with news about people I'm only vaguely familiar with.

OTOH, our DIL (the one our #2 son is divorcing) comes from a huge family that never moved far from home. Their wedding was a logistical nightmare trying to find a church large enough for her side (which we fixed by using up the numerous vacancies on his side ... whoa duh!). Grandmothers and aunts and uncles and cousins and cousins kids and this-guy-who-used-to-be-married-to-her-over-there-but-everybody-still-likes-him. This is a family that is so big if you rent out the VFW and charge $10 a head you'll make a profit. Our poor son had to buy their car from an uncle, get it fixed by another uncle, get their cellphones from a brother's wife, and even groceries from someone else. When they went house shopping, they had to use the family realtor (don't wanna hurt anybody's feelings). If he went to the bar, wivey knew exactly how many beers he had, who he talked to, and how long he was there. Kid's birthday parties are held together so that there are 30 parents and 100 children running wild. Getting a baby sitter was a piece of cake. Likewise, being a baby sitter was required. And never never piss them off. They close ranks like a well organized army. One time the kids had a fight. She disappeared with their daughter for a week, and oh golly gee, nobody knew where she was, nobody had seen her even though her car is in the driveway. Absolutely amazing.

I am sure there is great comfort in belonging to such a large and close group. Too complicated for me.

403
who likes eggnog, is not quite sure what an empanada is but am certain it's delicious

I am sure there is great comfort in belonging to such a large and close group. Too complicated for me.

I have to agree with you on some level 403. Though my dad's family is larger than I ever realized as a child, I still consider it closely knit enough to grasp the connections and to feel that I've had the chance to meet or get to know most of my living relatives on that side. My grandfather Jimmy had children in a previous marriage before my grandma Eloise so I don't know those people very well, nor does my father. Jimmy and Eloise had two children. My father Charles and his brother Aaron. Aaron married Gloria and they had one daughter, Aubrie. My father married my mother Tara and they had us three kids. So my immediate family on my father's side is pretty small and the extended family of my grandfather's siblings is small enough that I know most of them. At my grandfather's funeral I felt like I got a much better idea of how many people are on that side of the family. And it wasn't nearly as daunting as my mother's side.

My mother's side of the family are mormons. Because of that, there are too many of them to count. My grandmother Bev had four children including my mother, but Bev's sisers each had so many children that I can't put it all together. Her sister Vie had 14 kids, all of which already have kids of their own. Likewise, my mother's siblings have many children, though not as many as the previous generation. My extended family on my mom's side has grown so rapidly over the course of my lifetime that I have totally lost track of them all. And honestly, part of me feels it would be way too much of a hassle to try and get to know them all, though I wouldn't turn my nose up at a family reunion where I would have more of an opportunity to do that. I do have cousins on my mom's side that I know well, but unfortunately, because they all live in Arizona and we visit infrequently, I have not kept up those ties over the years quite as much as I have with my dad's side. The other thing is that both of my parents converted to Buddhism in their late teens and because of that, we were definitely the odd ones out on the mormon side. My dad's side, which is Catholic, never seemed to be quite as miffed about our religion as my mother's extended mormon family was, and that's probably another factor as to why we have not maintained the same closeness with them over the years, we are the Black Sheep.

Regardless, it's always a great comfort to me to spend time with my extended family when I have the chance.

brussel sprouts??

Ewwwwwwwww![/12-year old girl whine]

I agree, Mikey. My parents tried to get me to eat those for years. Unsuccessfully, I might add.

They are strange. That's the first time I've ever made brussel sprouts. Weird little mini cabbages...Mine tasted pretty damn good though if I do say so myself. Not something I'd want to have every week, but it worked for Thanksgiving.

I have that Eewwwwww reaction to okra. :oP

I've only had okra one time and it was fried. normally I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I love brussel sprouts that are soaked in butter! They are great. But put me near spinach or peas and forget about it! YUCK!

Your brussel sprouts sounded yum Maria. Good idea. Mine should be ready since we had our first hard frost last night. Brussel sprouts are always better after they have been knicked by frost IMHO. Deepens the flavor. Okra is a hot weather plant. We don't get enough of that to raise a decent crop. It's not a favorite veggie. So, I don't miss it too much.

403
who grew our T-Day potatoes, yams, green beans, and onions

Quick brussel sprouts (fresh ONLY!):

Wash 'em, cut 'em in half, stir-fry in butter, till cut-side is brown, serve with mustard. Very tasty.

No soda? I can't imagine life without soda...:)