It is the annual weekend gathering of two families that have known each other for over 50 years. These dear friends double dated in college, were married around the same time and each had four children who are roughly the same ages and were raised like siblings. One family lives in Chicago and the other here in Wisconsin. They are my in-laws friends and they arrived Friday night for the weekend festivities. It is also the 50th wedding anniversary of my husband's parents and my sister-in-law's birthday!!
The weekend's events include lots of food starting with breakfast pancakes, almond coffee cakes, breakfast casseroles, sausages, bacon and eggs. There's plenty of coffee and a pot of hot chocolate on the stove for the kids.
People wander in and out all morning and just about the time the counters are cleared and dishes rinsed and put in the dishwasher, it's time for lunch! Pots of soup crowd the stove top; vegetable, split pea and lentil. Breads and rolls, a big pasta salad and all the makings for sandwiches fill the countertops.
We are gathered on bar stools at the kitchen island and some of us at the kitchen table. The little kids are in the other room with toys and games strewn from one end of the great room to the other. A log fire keeps the "lodge" off the kitchen nice and cozy and the fireplace in the living room is glowing with an electric "fire". Someone is playing the Mary Poppins theme on the old player piano; happy voices singing su·per·ca·li·fra·gil·is·tic·ex·pi·a·li·do·cious.
A small television in the kitchen is playing old home movies that my brother-in-law lovingly, painstakingly, converted into DVD's. What a treasure. We gather 'round to watch the two families as they once were, when the parents were younger than the "kids" are now! Lots of laughter erupts as we watch the antics of the adults riding the toddler's bikes, holding the fish they caught, wearing the fashions of the sixties, the birthday parties, the naked babies and so much life shared over the years.
After lunch there is sledding and a game of Risk. Lots of laughter and conversation. Some of the group brave the cold and bundle up for a winter walk in the woods. I went home and took a nap on the couch with the sun on my face. Glorious!!!
The dinner was a catered affair and one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten. There was wine and a champagne toast and my mother-in-law read a piece about marriage that made me weep. We raised our glasses and we celebrated love and life and friends that are family.
Today is the beginning of day 2!! I'll join the festivities a bit later today. For now, I'm under a cozy blanket with the dogs curled up around me on the couch, still in my flannel pajamas and robe with a cup of coffee. A little quiet time...
I honestly thought I coined the word framily, but I just looked it up on line and here is what I found:
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=framily
when friends become like family, they're framily. closer than close, they may know you better than your own family.
What a blessing this is! We are here immersed in framily once again! In Arizona we have a group that is our framily as well. Our framily in Arizona has helped us celebrate and share all of life's events; birthdays, weddings, showers, new babies, memorials, game nights and the famous lip sync parties of years gone by. I am so grateful for every single one of these precious friends without whom I honestly don't know how I would navigate all the challenges of life. The burdens would seem unbearable and the joys not so sweet. Thank God for framily near and far.
