The Bonsai vs. the Charter Oak

They say you can pick your friends but not your family, but in my case, they are one and the same! My relations are few, but they are totally wonderful: AND they are coming to visit me this week!! “My” family consists of my husband and my kids, of course; my mother; my sister and brother and their families; my Aunt Ruth & cousin Barb; and my mom’s second cousin Emelie. That’s it … my only blood relations in this world! We may be small in number, and we’re a bit nutty (in a good way) but we’re all pretty close knit. The problem comes when my husband and I try to plot our family trees; it’s like a Bonsai on my side and the Charter Oak on his. My ancestors came to this country in the late 1800’s, and most of our genealogical records were destroyed during the wars in Europe. There aren’t too many branches on my side of the tree. Dana’s family on the other hand, is extremely well pedigreed, and he can trace his large family’s roots back in great detail (with paragraphs about each person) through the Revolutionary days in America to about the 1400’s in England. Totally impressive. In retaliation, I like to say that our tree actually dates back to the original Noah, but our records were lost in the Flood. (It doesn’t hurt having a son named Noah, too; we’re just keeping it all in the family).

Sometime after lunch today my mom, Aunt Ruth and Barb will start arriving. I am so excited!!! I like to say that Barb is my second sister; we are VERY close, and look very much alike. This makes total sense because Aunt Ruth (her mother) has always been like a second mom to me. Aunt Ruth has never been to The Lodge before, and making this long drive from New Jersey, with a bad back, is nothing short of a true act of love. This is going to be a very special week for my “two moms”, my second sister and me!!