With around 20 relatives gathered at my parents' house for the Thanksgiving weekend and my dad's three brothers able to be here with their wives, there was no shortage of conversations and memories shared.
We all had great memories of when my grandmother Dorothy Monohan celebrated her 80th birthday. Twenty-eight of us met in Los Angeles at Wild Bill's for dinner and a show. They sat us in the front table since there were so many of us and when it came time to sing Happy Birthday, Wild Bill handed Grandma the microphone and asked her to sing. She abruptly said, "Get that thing out of my face." My grandmother used to always say, "Rocks were invented when I was born and when Norbert, my dad, came along that's when dirt was invented."
We still quote this almost every time we get together. The grandchildren and nieces and nephews all remember this saying. Grandma did pass away last year at 91 years old.
Then there's always the story of when the five boys were little and lived on a farm in Indiana and how since Dad was the oldest he got his bath first.
Grandma would have to boil the water on the stove and pour it in the barrel. Poor Uncle David probably had pretty dirty and cold water when his turn came around.
Cousin Scotty Jackson came up from the Los Angeles area. He is a computer guru and used to work for MTV when they first started. He told us a story when he was 12 years old and lived in Clarita, Calif. Another boy and he found the hood of an old beat up car. They decided it would be fun to turn it upside down and tie a rope to it like a sled. Then the pulled it up the steep and rocky hill in Scotty's backyard. When they set sail down the hill he said the bumps nearly threw them off and they were going so fast (like 35 mph) if it hadn't been for all the rocks slowing them down at the end they would have run right into the back of their home. Sounds like a clip for "America's Funniest Home Videos."
Cousin Mike came from Scottsdale, Ariz., and talked about the time he stole his mom's new car out of the garage because she wasn't due home for several hours. He stopped at a stop light and parked right next to him was his older brother, busted.
I very much appreciate having so much family around us to be thankful for and to use part of Father John's homily last Sunday; Elton John sang a song, "How wonderful life is that you're in the world." I hope you all had the best Thanksgiving holiday.
Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
