family
I miss my dad.
I think I have started my blogs with this several times. He has been gone 17 years, 2 months. We just got back from a big, fun and emotional family reunion in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is where it all started. South Milwaukee, to be exact. He grew up with his 4 siblings on 813 North Chicago Ave. We drove by his house the other day. It looked old and kind of run down, but still retained it's charm. Big, overgrown trees surround the home. I think there is a porch still in tact. I remember seeing photos of my dad and his brothers and sisters playing in the yard. I remember a big table near a garden. His mom (Rose) was a healthy sized woman. My mom said that she would pass pastries under the table to her when she came over. Thinking maybe my mom was too thin. She looked like a sweet grandma. Big grandmas are fun to hug. Skinny grandmas are kind of scary to hug, for fear of breakage. This grandma looked like she could take about 7 of us and wrap us in her arms. In most of the photos I have seen, she is wearing a dress and an apron. I bet she would pick tomatoes from the garden and hold them gently in that apron. She raised 5 children in that house on North Chicago Ave. My dad's dad was thin and I think, tall. Very dashing and serious looking. He had really nice eyes. My dad had nice eyes too.
We all gathered together on Saturday to celebrate family. My father and my Uncle Bud have passed on, but their brother, Ray, and 2 sisters, MaryAnn and Liza, were there. They are the patriarch and the matriarch's of the family. We have a brood of cousins, a gaggle of grandchildren a smattering of second cousins and one guy named Larry, who claims to be a distant cousin..but only has one L on the end of "Mitchell". He seems very bright and well read..but did not do a very convincing job of the mystery, missing L. We are a stubborn lot..and respected his case, but will be keeping the two L's for now. I think that one L on the end of "Mitchell" looks unbalanced. Sure, it spells hell, but that is a part it's charm. I think that Larry- one- L had a nice time, but would need to come back with a little more ammo. Also, he needs to know how to play Cribbage and throw a good Horseshoe. Then we might consider researching his theory.
We started the day with a prayer, a poem and stories from the "older" generation. My dad's cousin, Bill Hayes, is a well known actor and a beautiful spirit. He told a story about always enjoying coming over to his cousins' house, because everyone was so funny. They would play and sing old songs and harmonize. I remember many, many parties ending in song. Many incoherent songs, but sweet still the same. My other cousins remember that too..so much so, that they made an official Mitchell Family Reunion Song Book for the occasion. We had a big day of visiting, cribbage and horseshoe competitions. We even had trophies. We take our Mid-Western hobbies very seriously. Kids were running around in the beautiful green grass, chasing each other and playing games. It reminded me so of when I was a child. At one point, when the horseshoe champ was crowned and the cribbage had stopped for the evening, I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of my family talking and laughing. I was 9 again. In my back yard. I could smell the flowers, feel the summer night breeze and taste the humidity. We were playing hide and seek. Then the fireflies came out. Everyone scattered to catch them. I was 9. Then I heard the familiar sound of people singing. "By the light..of the silvery moon..I want to spoon..to my honey I'll croon love's tune..." I was 9 again. If I squinted ever so slightly, I could see the past. I wished so bad that I could open my eyes extra wide and see my dad sitting next to my Uncle Ray, smoking that old stoggie, and laughing at the beauty of it all. Damn he would have loved seeing my generation of cousins, pulling it all together, for the sake of family. Keeping it going. Creating more memories for my son and his cousins.
Our souls are bound by bratwurst and beer, cards and a good "shoe", songs and our last name. We all have experienced hardships and great joy. We all made a deal to come together and celebrate all the good we remember and all the good we hope to pass on to our children. We finished the evening with "Oh The More We are Together"..a family song that blesses us with the line.."Oh The More We are Together, the Happier We'll Be." Simple truth weaved into the many branches of this family tree. So now we take the song, go back to our corners of the world and pray that we will gather together soon, for another happy occasion. Maybe by then Larry will find the missing L, someone will finally beat Uncle Ray in crib and my brothers and I will make sense of that missing piece, that seems to never go away, even at the most happy of times.
Wednesday, August 10 1:28 am
Mitchell Family Reunion
August 6, 20011
(My brother Tom took this photo)
I think I have started my blogs with this several times. He has been gone 17 years, 2 months. We just got back from a big, fun and emotional family reunion in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is where it all started. South Milwaukee, to be exact. He grew up with his 4 siblings on 813 North Chicago Ave. We drove by his house the other day. It looked old and kind of run down, but still retained it's charm. Big, overgrown trees surround the home. I think there is a porch still in tact. I remember seeing photos of my dad and his brothers and sisters playing in the yard. I remember a big table near a garden. His mom (Rose) was a healthy sized woman. My mom said that she would pass pastries under the table to her when she came over. Thinking maybe my mom was too thin. She looked like a sweet grandma. Big grandmas are fun to hug. Skinny grandmas are kind of scary to hug, for fear of breakage. This grandma looked like she could take about 7 of us and wrap us in her arms. In most of the photos I have seen, she is wearing a dress and an apron. I bet she would pick tomatoes from the garden and hold them gently in that apron. She raised 5 children in that house on North Chicago Ave. My dad's dad was thin and I think, tall. Very dashing and serious looking. He had really nice eyes. My dad had nice eyes too.
We all gathered together on Saturday to celebrate family. My father and my Uncle Bud have passed on, but their brother, Ray, and 2 sisters, MaryAnn and Liza, were there. They are the patriarch and the matriarch's of the family. We have a brood of cousins, a gaggle of grandchildren a smattering of second cousins and one guy named Larry, who claims to be a distant cousin..but only has one L on the end of "Mitchell". He seems very bright and well read..but did not do a very convincing job of the mystery, missing L. We are a stubborn lot..and respected his case, but will be keeping the two L's for now. I think that one L on the end of "Mitchell" looks unbalanced. Sure, it spells hell, but that is a part it's charm. I think that Larry- one- L had a nice time, but would need to come back with a little more ammo. Also, he needs to know how to play Cribbage and throw a good Horseshoe. Then we might consider researching his theory.
We started the day with a prayer, a poem and stories from the "older" generation. My dad's cousin, Bill Hayes, is a well known actor and a beautiful spirit. He told a story about always enjoying coming over to his cousins' house, because everyone was so funny. They would play and sing old songs and harmonize. I remember many, many parties ending in song. Many incoherent songs, but sweet still the same. My other cousins remember that too..so much so, that they made an official Mitchell Family Reunion Song Book for the occasion. We had a big day of visiting, cribbage and horseshoe competitions. We even had trophies. We take our Mid-Western hobbies very seriously. Kids were running around in the beautiful green grass, chasing each other and playing games. It reminded me so of when I was a child. At one point, when the horseshoe champ was crowned and the cribbage had stopped for the evening, I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of my family talking and laughing. I was 9 again. In my back yard. I could smell the flowers, feel the summer night breeze and taste the humidity. We were playing hide and seek. Then the fireflies came out. Everyone scattered to catch them. I was 9. Then I heard the familiar sound of people singing. "By the light..of the silvery moon..I want to spoon..to my honey I'll croon love's tune..." I was 9 again. If I squinted ever so slightly, I could see the past. I wished so bad that I could open my eyes extra wide and see my dad sitting next to my Uncle Ray, smoking that old stoggie, and laughing at the beauty of it all. Damn he would have loved seeing my generation of cousins, pulling it all together, for the sake of family. Keeping it going. Creating more memories for my son and his cousins.
Our souls are bound by bratwurst and beer, cards and a good "shoe", songs and our last name. We all have experienced hardships and great joy. We all made a deal to come together and celebrate all the good we remember and all the good we hope to pass on to our children. We finished the evening with "Oh The More We are Together"..a family song that blesses us with the line.."Oh The More We are Together, the Happier We'll Be." Simple truth weaved into the many branches of this family tree. So now we take the song, go back to our corners of the world and pray that we will gather together soon, for another happy occasion. Maybe by then Larry will find the missing L, someone will finally beat Uncle Ray in crib and my brothers and I will make sense of that missing piece, that seems to never go away, even at the most happy of times.
Wednesday, August 10 1:28 am
August 6, 20011
(My brother Tom took this photo)
Ask me about one "L" Michele sometime. Great story.
ReplyDeleteawesome words, and a great picture!
ReplyDelete