A Good Weekend Amidst a Good Life

This weekend Hiroko and I enjoyed the company of my cousin Jeff and his wife Meg. The picture is of Jeff, Meg, and me. As is usually the case when I get together with Jeff or one of his brothers there were a lot of laughs and heated political discussion – but since Jeff and I agree on most things political the heat was warming, not scorching.

The cousin relationship carries a very special attribute: we are close enough to be family and at the same time far enough apart that we aren’t in each other’s stuff. My interest in his life and his in mine are genuine. We each care enough to listen to whatever the other has to say about problems, achievements, beliefs, doubts. And wonderfully, there is no expectation that my responses to him will change his life or the way he does anything at all. Similarly, if I completely ignore some advice or opinion he gives me it seems not to hurt him in the slightest. And to make things even better, Meg and Hiroko fit right into this pairing of cousins.

We had a very good weekend.

If it turns out the economy will ever let us join Jeff and Meg in the retired life they enjoy, we look forward to making our times together more frequent.