Sharing in Laughter and Love: A Night at Nanny's

Our family likes to pile as many people into small spaces as possible. One of our favorite places to do this is at Nanny's house. Nanny's house is a special place. It is the place where Nanny herself was born. Actually, she was born in what later became the feed house while the her parents were building the house. She grew up there with her brother, Paul. The family ran a successful hatchery there for years. In fact, in the basement there is still a very large egg incubator--I bet its worth a lot in the right hands, now that I think about it. Nanny lived there until she married and then an unfortunate series of circumstances unfolded when she and my late grandfather Gramps were in their early 20s, and they ended up moving their small family into the house to live with my great-grandmother. She's lived there ever since. My mom and 2 aunts grew up there and my siblings, cousins, and I have spent countless hours out there playing wiffle-ball, high-flies, hide-and-seek, chasing chickens, looking for eggs, and trying to find where the newest litter of kittens were hidden in the barn. So, so many memories. I will always love Nanny's house. Now I look forward to holidays when we really take the stuffing of people into a small space to a new level. Some grumble about the lack of elbow room at the table, but I absolutely love it.

Holidays aren't the only time we convene at Nanny's house. We frequently make spur of the moment plans to have pizza nights at Nanny's and whoever can come, comes. Last Friday night was one of those nights. We actually got a fairly good turn-out for last minute plans. My cousins Cheryl and Lynnette and their children Eli and Dax, my aunt and uncle Heidi and Mark, my mom, sister, her new baby Sophia, myself and Max and Maggie were in attendance. It was the first time for Cheryl and Lynnette to meet Sophia and Max was so excited to play with his buddy Eli. Maggie took a liking and interest to Dax, who surprised us all with his new-found skill of army-crawling across the floor.

Nanny loves it when we all come over. I can only imagine her joy. It would really be something to have 4 generations of your family under one roof--a family that started with you. I for one am so grateful that my kids are close to Nanny and their great aunts and uncles, cousins, and other extended family members. Family is more important than anything, and it is so important to me to make sure that my kids value those relationships from an early age. I really cherish these times and there's no one I'd rather spend my Friday nights with than my family!