July 21, 2006

Take a gander at these "then and now" photos!

First Annual "Cousin's Night Out"

Looking back, one of the many things that mom and dad gave us was a reason to get together as a family. That meant parties. While holidays and birthdays were always celebrated, mom could always dream up some reason, especially during the summer, to throw a party on the patio.

Of course the grandkids, a/k/a "the cousins" (more often for those that lived in the area) were there too. They learned to party as babies, dance as toddlers and laugh alot. As they grew older, many went off to college or lived too just too far away to attend the patio parties.

But now that almost all of them are over 21, they decided it was time to reconnect – just the cousins. What better reason than their grandpa’s 85th birthday to go out and celebrate family?

Many of them met at the condo to shower Cliffy with birthday wishes and share some love with "The Queen". With directions in the hands of the out-of-towners, they headed down to the East Side to party.

Most of them have been pretty tight lipped about what really went on that night, but my guess is that the partying, laughter and dancing they learned as youngsters was a big part of the night.

And Karen - thank you for the display of modesty, even as a youngster.