There And Back Again,... Again

 

Centerway Square, Corning NY

Sunday - I’m sitting at the Market Cafe with my cappuccino pondering the incongruity of everything being the same, but everything also being different, here in my hometown.

Mostly I am the difference, rather my current circumstances are changed from all the previous walks here. I walk the same streets, visit the same sites, but because of my experiences, it’s all so very different now. I feel a big, ugly cry coming on, but I hope to save it for the drive home tomorrow - something I did for the past 10 yrs of trips here. 


I’m staying in the hotel where I worked my very first job in high school and into college. I was a lifeguard at this pool every Saturday.  I’ll never forget pulling a little girl out, who was quietly drowning behind her mother. Watch those little ones closely!

Monday - The reunion party was a wonderful success with absolutely zero drama among us seven siblings, a few cousins, and dozens of nieces and nephews and their children. Only one uncle of my parent’s generation remains, and he came too!

Image preview
The big group shot.


My oldest sister (left) gave me this photo of us five sisters with our Scottish grandma around 1970. I'm in the yellow bathing suit. Fifty five years later and I mostly hang with the younger two even though the older ones are closer to my age.

There were a couple of moments during the party that made me very happy - both were of siblings who were previously not talking to each other a) sitting together chatting and eating dinner with smiles, and b) another two feuding siblings having a beer together and chatting! My heart swelled large. I'm one of those people who wants everyone to get along and feels awful when they don't. 

My brothers chatting nicely before little Jack interrupted my shot.


The youngest generation decided to take over bartending duties after they were done swimming.  The oldest of these kids is 7, his parents own 2 brewpubs, and my brother is in the wine distribution business. You can see it is in their blood. They made about $40 in tips. They were hilarious in their seriousness!


Samantha did not spill a drop and she kept the drinks organized - she is 5.

The kids enjoyed the boat rides on Keuka Lake.


Photo success! My siblings and me from oldest on the left, to youngest on the right with a 15 year age span. The first five of us were roughly one year apart.

My sister in the red shirt made a photo book of happy birthday wishes and remembrances that Mom's children and grandchildren wrote for her 90th birthday (during Covid when her party was cancelled). The book was buried with her, but luckily Theresa took a photo of every page and added pictures to make all of us a keepsake book. I tried to read a bit of it, but the tears flowed, so it'll have to wait til later. 

The weekend turned out much nicer than I could have imagined - my low expectations mindset really works!

Comments

  1. MargaretAugust 5, 2025 at 1:14 AM

    Beautiful setting and family photos--I'm so glad you got some! Especially the one of all the siblings. That's a true treasure! I like others to get along too which is why we avoid discussing politics or religion at our get togethers. I don't know if you were reading my blog when my two daughters were estranged (about 2 years ago) It was extremely hard on me although I stayed out of it and was resigned to the situation. They eventually worked it out; they are too different to be close but enjoy getting their little boys together. It must have been so emotional to be back where you grew up yet feeling that everything was different. A piece of your history (and heart) is missing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Rainy Weekend

Image
Another rainy Saturday to contend with, so I decided on a Van Morrison playlist while I cleaned out the garage and danced and sang. My gardening supplies and planters and pots that need sorting and recycling  were cluttering up my space. They are now sorted and the garage is cleaned out for at least another week or so. I think the shed in the back yard needs to be a project to get it into a more useful state.  The amount of rain we've had is remarkable. May was one of the wettest months in eighty years and June is starting to look the same. I would rather have too much rain rather than a drought though.  After dropping around 3 inches of rain, the skies cleared up later in the afternoon. I loaded up my bike for an impromptu ride on the Electric Trail with the thought of dinner or ice cream at Samascott's.  The first of many turtles on the bike path. Now I see just how rough the path was and how I had no business riding on it.  The trail was very wet on the way s...
Read more

Summer Solstice

Image
Vroman's Nose overlooking the valley. Summer has begun! To mark the solstice, my hiking group held a picnic at the top of Vroman's Nose, which is a short little hike up a 657 foot hill. It overlooks the Schoharie Valley and has a beautiful rock 'dance floor' that easily accommodates our group of forty. The weather was a perfect 74 degrees with a breeze to keep any bugs away. A pleasant gathering on the dance floor near sunset. I drove Sue Ellen who had her gall bladder removed last week, and we hiked up with a guy who has spinal stenosis. As I listened to them discuss their ailments, I silently gave thanks for my health and thought about how 'mature' our group is becoming.  Once at the top, the party began with burgers and dogs, salads and desserts, and great conversation.  Most of our group made it into this sunset picture. Saturday started with me being woken up by my neighbors chatting down below in the street - it was garage sale day. I didn't join since...
Read more

Random Thoughts In My Little Life

Image
 The orchids I bought in February (!) catch my attention each day and I have to marvel at their longevity. Four months of continuous flowers? What other plant does this? I just may become an orchid collector. A new stem with buds is forming on one of them too! This long horn beetle was inspecting my snow peas. They have blooms, so peas are not far behind! I drove up to the Plateau to meet a friend for a paddle. The wind picked up for awhile so we got a nice upper body work out paddling into the wind. Then we just floated near the dock when the wind died down and the sun was shining.  This wetland was covered in yellow flag (iris) on the way to the Pond. Enjoying the calm water after the gusts. This is not proper paddling form, but it was so relaxing. This angle makes my kayak look tiny! Thursday was a nice dry day - perfect for lawn garden work. I'm diligently putting the plants I keep buying into the ground. I have a dozen sunflowers I grew from seed that need planting, but t...
Read more