A Family that Prays Together...

In my own personal opinion, Atlanta, Georgia is boring. Perhaps my opinion is skewed because I don't live in the South where people drink lemonade and speak real slow, but it's not like I'm that far removed. Even friends in the great state of Texas would say that if it's 10pm on a Saturday night and the city is so quiet that you can hear an ant sneeze, it means the city is boring.

I had fun with my family though. If anything you could say they are quite interesting. For instance, my 10 year old cousin Jada is...well...a character. The adventure began in Louisiana where my mom and sister picked her up (I'd like to say my travel to Atlanta was an adventure, but in reality I got to the airport 2hrs early and passed out in the terminal). Jada, by no stretch of the imagination, is a city girl. Raised in the country all her life, she tends to do the most random and sometimes inappropriate things. For instance:

JADA: Who all comin' to the reunion Aunt Darr-is??
MOM: All your cousins and some of your other aunts and uncles
JADA: Cuzzins?? Like who!
MOM: Well, my other daughter is your cousin and she's coming from New York
JADA: NEW YORK!?!? I bet they got swimmin' poo's up thurr!!!

Swimming pools? Yeah, I guess there are a few of those up here too...hmm.

I felt bad for my sister, Kristen, who texted me the whole 12hr drive. When they finally arrived in Atlanta they were all exhausted. My mother from driving, Jada from talking and my sister from putting up with the two.

That night, for the first time in our lives, my sister and I shared a room all by ourselves. To celebrate the occasion, we jumped on the beds. Our joy was short-lived as my mother came in later to inform us that Jada would be sleeping in our room the next night. My sister and I played Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who had to share a bed with her...I lost.

The next day was the first day of the reunion, we went on a tour of the city and saw all the famous spots like Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was pastor, the CNN Center, Olympic Park and some fancy pants mall in Buckhead. All of this in my cousin Myron's short bus (he owns a day care and therefore drives the school's bus when there aren't enough seat belts for everyone in his car...even though there aren't any seat belts in the short bus either).

The next day we went on another tour of Atlanta (in a bigger bus...still no seat belts) except traded the fancy mall for a tour of the projects. When we stopped at the CNN Center Jada bought a 2 ft long tube of colored sugar (like Fun Dip). I snatched it from her and bought her a chicken sandwich instead. I knew she was mad at me for that, but I could already tell that the outcome of that purchase would involve a headache for everyone on the bus.

That night we had dinner with the whole family. Jada, being relatively new to the clan, was compelled to iron her clothes using my sister's mouthwash in the iron. In her defense the mouthwash was clear, BUT! it did say CREST MOUTHWASH very clearly on the front. I guess she figured it out when the steam was minty fresh.

The next day was our farewell. Our family reunions are a pretty big deal since my great grand parents had 13 children and they've been having the gatherings consistently since 1980. So as the patriarch of the family, the oldest living son and my grandfather's younger brother, now 79 years old, spoke. He mentioned the likelihood of his absence at the next reunion in 2010 and how proud he was of America despite it's shortcomings. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1946 and began to tear up recalling those memories. He said "...my commanding officer marched up to me and my friends and yelled 'Ross! You and the other coloreds get to the back of the line and let these boys go first!'" He remembered his embarrassment and anger. If he was going to serve his country, why did he have to do it as a second class citizen? He paused a moment to collect himself, "But I'm seeing a change now. We are finally reaching a place of equality. You can see it here in Atlanta where blacks are so prosperous, and in our political system where we finally have a serious nominee. These are important times. Be thankful that you don't have to go through the things I did." There wasn't a dry eye in the room. To some extent everyone there had experienced a form of racism and appreciated the surreal-nature of this year's election (whether Obama wins or not). After that we recalled memories of reunion's past and prayed. It was a great ending to a great reunion.

My mom and sister left after exchanging hugs and phone numbers. Once on the road my mom decided to stop for lunch. Jada, being the growing child that she is, ordered two double cheeseburger MEALS. My mom wasn't havin' that so she made Jada order something smaller. She attempted to eat her tube-o-sugar, which I finally gave back, as a dessert but my sister had it hidden in the trunk.