As good as it sounds
October 19, 2010 (Tuesday)
Yesterday at about 6:00 p.m., I took a walk in the park. The temperature was 78 degrees and the humidity 64%, otherwise known as “just right.” As the sun was giving us its last curtsy of the day, making its way to the horizon, ever so slowly, the people of the town gathered at the park. Some were walking, as I was (only faster), others were jogging. A few were riding their bikes, and one lady was pushing a baby carriage (I don’t know if there was a baby in it or not, because she went by me too fast for me to make sure). Here and there were groups of children participating in various sports, with some adults coaching or watching. The entire scene made me think of a Currier and Ives print. I also thought of a Twilight Zone episode, in which a man got off a train at a depot that took him back in time to the previous century, when the depot served an old-fashioned town, complete with gazebo and town band concerts. Seeing people of all ages at the park reminded me of my childhood, when the late afternoons were spent with neighborhood kids, playing games and having fun. I was so caught up in it that I could almost hear a mother calling her kids home for supper.
I thought of other days when my father’s parents, his brothers and sisters, and all my cousins would gather from time to time for family “get-togethers.” Every year at least once we went to Herman Park for a big picnic. The adults visited with each other and the kids tried out the merry-go-round they had to push, the tall swings or the high slides. We would always take a tour through the neighboring zoo (In 2010 one of the best in the nation, but back then mainly a collection of animals in cages). All in all it was always a nice day from beginning to end. Other “get-togethers” were at the county park at Clear Lake or Morgan’s Point, where we swam and warned each other about the undertow. Occasionally, but not often, we made it to Galveston. We liked going to the San Jacinto River where we played in the water and on the sand bars near the highway bridge. One time we went to Spring Creek (now a densely populated residential area) and spent the night. My sister, Elva, came down with diphtheria as a result of that outing, and our family was quarantined for months, although no one else came down with it.
A rough count of all the cousins of that era is about 25 or so, although some were grown when others were born. We cousins grew up knowing and loving each other, largely as a result of those family gatherings. When my grandmother Fake was still living, a family reunion was held in Houston, and 99 people were there, all family. I didn’t make it. I was the only one in the family not living in Houston at the time, and I couldn’t make the trip. I think that was in the late 50’s. It’s hard to realize that some of those kids on the merry-go-round are in their 80’s today, and others have passed on. I’m glad we got together as kids.