Family ties.

Aaaah, look. (I love a spontaneous group hug.)

I took this little series of snapshots of my Rock n' Roll buddy with one of his cousins and her hubbs last weekend while at a big outdoor wedding-before-hand-followed-by-a-BBQ-potluck-bring-your-band-and-let's-jam-until-the-sun-goes-down party(hmmm, maybe that sounds a bit confusing, but trust me, it was a blast.)out in the eensy weensy town of Onalaska, Washington.(...and you know how much I love small town America, right?)

The barbeque was very good(topped off with a slice of dense white wedding cake with rich raspberry filling...so yummy!)and the company was even better. Babies, old folks and every age in between. Lots of family and friends, a smiling bride and a guitar playin' groom.

I had a delightful visit with my Buddy's nearly-90 year old uncle, (who is quite a good dancer, by the way..)and sat in the fabulously warm sun enjoying music and chatting it up with some of his cousins.(I mean my Buddy's cousins, not his uncle's...)

It was a real kick to watch the band change things up by playing with other musicians. At one point I think there were about eight of them (including a girl drummer!)in the covered barn all playing some blues together(with a guy that was pretty slick on the harmonica...)and some bluegrass,

and then some old rock n' roll,of course.

Throughout the entire day I listened as various family members recanted their own versions of the same story about my Rock n' Roll Buddy's obsession with music from his early childhood days. It seemed that every relative had their own slightly different recollection, and all of the tales were hilarious,each shared with undeniable fondness and affection.

The basic gist of the story goes something like this: After seeing the Beatles on television, he began to corral anyone and everyone to listen to him sing and wail on his guitar, along with an old school pedestal stand ashtray he drug around with him, which he fancied as a wanna-be microphone. (One cousin even reported that he was held as a "captive audience" as he was too young to get away...)The rest, as they say, is history.

It made me feel all warm and fuzzy to get to be a part of this special day, where time apart clearly doesn't actually hold any sort of value on a timeline, and good natured teasing (and poking and pinching)picks up right where it left off from the last visit. 


I am a firm believer that if you've got family and friends who love you, you're rich beyond measure,so......if, after some 50 or so years, you're still laughing and comparing memories about your "cuz" doing his best Paul McCartney way back at the ripe old age of seven?

Yeah, I'd say that you're pretty danged rich.