Tuesday, January 29, 2008
In my adult years I’ve not been that close to relatives on my Mother’s side of the family. The family is big: My mother was one of nine children and I have dozens of cousins. That side of the family also mostly lives relatively far away in remote areas of Indiana. So these are my excuses for not knowing them.
I had extremely close relationships with two of the cousins in my youth (Christine and Fred, who is now in Iraq). Growing up however, we had little in common and drifted apart. So it was a pleasant surprise to me that in my adult years I’ve become relatively close to my cousin Bobby.
It happens that he moved out to Florida a year or so back. It should require relatively little convincing to leave the frigid winter of New York for a trip to where it is in the high 70s, I finally made it down there to visit him.
And it was like old times. We hung out and talked incessively about the family, told jokes, and debated the bounties of New York life, where he once lived with me for a little while (helping me to get past the long-term relationship that brought me there).
I had a ball. We toured Naples, went to the beach, checked out the nightlife, and dined in their restaurants. Though the weather and people are wonderful, I see where he would compare Florida with New York and be somewhat disappointed. The people have a comparative advantage in kindness, but not so much so in style/sophistication. Seeing, eating, and breathing that style and sophistication with little underneath, the trip was actually a breath of fresh air (to someone working in high-end retail).
I’m back, though, with a vengeance. The weekend did me good – seeing family, friendly people, and living the lifestyle with my cousin was a welcome diversion from my hard-core NYC days. And I think it was good for him, too. Moving away is no trivial matter and having familiar people around helps, as does having a couple vodka martinis.
I had extremely close relationships with two of the cousins in my youth (Christine and Fred, who is now in Iraq). Growing up however, we had little in common and drifted apart. So it was a pleasant surprise to me that in my adult years I’ve become relatively close to my cousin Bobby.
It happens that he moved out to Florida a year or so back. It should require relatively little convincing to leave the frigid winter of New York for a trip to where it is in the high 70s, I finally made it down there to visit him.
And it was like old times. We hung out and talked incessively about the family, told jokes, and debated the bounties of New York life, where he once lived with me for a little while (helping me to get past the long-term relationship that brought me there).
I had a ball. We toured Naples, went to the beach, checked out the nightlife, and dined in their restaurants. Though the weather and people are wonderful, I see where he would compare Florida with New York and be somewhat disappointed. The people have a comparative advantage in kindness, but not so much so in style/sophistication. Seeing, eating, and breathing that style and sophistication with little underneath, the trip was actually a breath of fresh air (to someone working in high-end retail).
I’m back, though, with a vengeance. The weekend did me good – seeing family, friendly people, and living the lifestyle with my cousin was a welcome diversion from my hard-core NYC days. And I think it was good for him, too. Moving away is no trivial matter and having familiar people around helps, as does having a couple vodka martinis.
# posted by otas : 5:59 PM
