Tag: uncle

July 24th Cousins Day

July Holidays

So if your parents had any brothers or sisters chances are you have cousins. My Dad’s sister had two children, a boy and a girl and they would come visit us normally once a year when we were younger. My father was a farmer so, naturally my sister and I lived on the farm. My Uncle was in the Marine Corp and was assigned to different places so my cousins would come stay with us for a month or so, normally during the summer. We had an extra house on the farm so they, and my Aunt, would live there so really it was more like having friends close by. I loved those times, though I was the youngest and often got left out of a lot of stuff. Since then another sister was added to my family and I have lost track of my cousins. Don’t let that happen to you.

How to celebrate – Hold a family reunion. Keep in touch with your extended family. Start a family tree.

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July 24th Cousins Day

July Holidays

Today we celebrate our Aunt’s and Uncle’s children, our cousins. If you are lucky as a child, you may grow up with your cousins around and generally speaking, they are within a few years of our own age. I remember growing up with my Uncle being in the Marine Corp and nearly every summer our cousins came to stay with us on the family farm. It was always fun to have them to play with, even tough we did occasionally fight. Did you know that during World War 1 the Czar, Kaiser and royalty of England were all cousins of each other!?! Right before the war started they would attend each other’s parties and vacation at each other’s palaces. Talk about your love/hate relationships.

How to celebrate – If you haven’t talked to your cousins in a while, contact them. Make a family tree. Throw a family reunion.

July 26th Aunt and Uncle’s Day

July Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

When we generally think of our aunts and uncles it is with fond thoughts and fun in mind. After all they come from the same stock as our mother or father but don’t have the same discipline issues. So they are more fun, they are more interesting, and in many, many cases, they are a lot weirder!

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Aunts are the sisters to our father or mother, most have normal lives like the rest of the family members, but some step away from the norm and live lives much different than we know. If they have children of their own they are more likely to react just as our parents do, but if they do not have children, they may have become airline flight attendants, princesses, mermaids at a theme park, or even political figures.

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Whether they are “normal” or not, they are a part of the family and generally love their nieces and nephews, sometimes treating them like their own. They are fun because they don’t have to put up with us 24 hours a day and may have had the opportunities in life few others have.

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Uncles, on the other hand, are generally strange. They don’t mean to be, but they are.  Naturally they can be normal people but we always wonder if they are some sort of international spy, a wealthy tycoon, or a deep sea diver.

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Whether they are spies or mermaids it doesn’t really matter. We are always happy to see them, want them around more, and wish them all the happiness in the world.

How to celebrate – Call your aunts or uncles, or both and wish them a happy Aunt and Uncle’s Day. See how many of your aunts and uncles you can remember (this includes all the cousins!) Relate a story to the rest of your family about the strangest aunt or uncle you have.

May 18th National Visit Your Relatives Day

May Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

They say you can’t choose your relatives, which is very true. However, you have to remember they couldn’t choose you either! So you might as well make do with the best and at least say hello every once in a while, like today.

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If your family tree is anything like mine there will be a few surprises here and there. After all, my family tree indicates that I am a long lost relative to Robin Hood. The fact that Robin Hood is fictional does bother me a little, does this mean I was born into a family of cartoon? Could be, I have had many people tell me I was a joke.

Uncle Larry Weird Face

But good or bad, I’m not as unusual as my uncle. (No the photo above is not really of my uncle). In fact I was very afraid of my uncle. He was a nearly 7 foot tall, Blackfoot Native American, bald headed and a General in the Marine Corp. Though I was afraid of him, I did admire him as well. So see, there is something good in everybody… you just have to look for it sometimes.

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My Aunt Clover was another character I both admired and thought (To myself) gee, what an off person. (And no this isn’t her either although I wouldn’t put this sort of thing beyond her) The point is, they are probably just as embarrassed of us as we are of them. So embrace they oddities and remember they are family. Good, bad or indifferent we can’t do anything about that and they will be gone all too soon. Who knows, maybe they will leave you a million dollars if you just as so much say “hello”.

How to celebrate – Visit a relative today. If it is practical to go to them, write them a letter, give them a call or email them. Look for the best in all your relatives.