See the lady standing there in front of the birthday cake with the 50 on it - that's Aunt Carol, and the guy standing behind her is Uncle Dave (after whom I am named.) The celebration took place in my parent’s dining room which hasn’t changed much since then.
Now these great folks are my best friend Adam's parents, and they were almost like parents to me, but they're not really even my Aunt and Uncle. In truth their family and my family are such good friends that I grew up calling them Aunt and Uncle (like I wrote I was named after Uncle Dave), and their kids were like cousins. But as I also wrote, often they were more like parents to me, and their kids were more like siblings. Also in truth, I knew my honorary cousins better than my blood cousins and through-marriage cousins.
Over the years I’ve probably given them more headache than some of their own kids, but we have also enjoyed plenty of wonderful experiences which way outweigh the grief. In the long run I will always love my Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave and all eight of their crazy kids, my cousins; my brothers and sisters.
~~ Dave with the green bug on his neck
P.S. The lady standing with her arms folded is Dottie (who also has a bunch of kids.) Carmen is sitting
P.S.S. I need a better scanner; the original is much clearer.
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