It's like magic...whenever Shallue families gather in one place, you can count on a cribbage board and several decks of cards materializing on a nearby surface. Tom's mom and dad arrived Saturday evening and already there have been dozens of cribbage games, 3-13 matches (a kind of rummy), and the curses, whines, excuses, (and pages and pages of scratch paper full of scores and hex symbols next to the winners' names) that go along with them.
Before I left for work this morning, my wonderful mother-in-law had already dusted the upstairs and was asking "what else can I do?"
How did I get so lucky? That's one reason I'm not really worried about hosting Thanksgiving for 15 or so on Thursday - I know I'll have plenty of help. Mom is quick to counter any procrastination moves I try to make - after raising nine boys, she is Organization and Efficiency personified (her Christmas card came in yesterday's mail!)...without being bossy or controlling! I repeat, how did I get so lucky?
It also helps to know I won't be judged or criticized if I forget something, or burn something, or undercook something. I might be teased...perhaps mercilessly even years from now...but it will be teasing packaged in love.
For now it's just the four of us hanging out here...watching TV, playing cards, and catching up on news since the summer - the last time we saw each other. Wednesday we're hit with a tidal wave of people - not as in destructive, but as in "everyone gets here at the same time." In terms of Shallue get-togethers, it's actually on the small side...only Tom's oldest brother Kenny, his wife, two daughters, a son-in-law and two grandsons, plus my kids. That's when it will feel like a real Shallue get-together, with card games going everywhere, people sleeping on couches, talking over each other...laughing...arguing...sneaking off for some peace and quiet...
My parents live close enough for me to take our visits for granted. I forget how tough it has to be on Tom to see his parents only once or twice a year (he'll go years without seeing some of his brothers.) I'm glad he was able to take off work this week so he can spend every possible minute with them. It will be summertime before we see them again...
(Oh, for the record, I won two games of 3-13 tonight! Whoo-hoo!)
Mom and a parade of critters, just like St. Frances...she likes to walk around the house saying the Rosary...Charly and Frankie joined in, for a little while at least...
