When I was a kid I would spend most of my summers in Florida. My parents would ship me off to the extended family - grand aunts and uncles, cousins and family friends. My grandmother had a ton of younger brothers and sisters, and their kids were around my age. Going to Florida in the summer was sort of like going to Summer Camp or the cottage.
I had and still have much more family in Florida than anywhere else.
There were a handful of cousins that I was particularly close with. When I went back home to Toronto we kept in touch, in anticipation for when I would return.
Keeping in touch back then was different than keeping in touch is now. If you recall, 15-20 years ago there was no text messaging, or Twitter. We weren't on Facebook or Hotmail.
Keeping in touch meant that we would actually write letters to each other. I would receive a package in the mail from Florida that would have letters from my closest cousins (each with a unique take on what was happening in their lives and often expertly decorated), and accompanying the letter would be pictures, postcards, other memorabilia. Once I even received a cassette tape (remember thoses?) that had meaningful songs. Their voice chimed with a greeting in when I popped the tape into my stereo.
My responses always took much longer. I wrote individual letters to each person - looking for a new way to rehash my stories. Reminiscing about the "inside jokes" that we had. If you were boy crazy I would talk about my latest crush at school, if you were into music I would tell about the concerts coming up in Toronto. I would try to put a lot into my responses.
But like everything, time changes things. Growing up, moving on. So much has happened to all of us since those days. Graduations, weddings, careers, children. I went to Florida to be a Bridesmaid in one of my cousins weddings not to long ago, and now she has two children. I have a little one myself.
We do try to keep in touch - emailing, texting, long distance phone calls - when we find the time. I don't get to visit everyone in Florida as often as I'd like to.
This weekend, one of my favorite cousins is coming up to visit. This is the first time that she is meeting the baby. (I can't begin to tell you how excited she was for us when I broke the news that I was expecting.)
So although I won't be able to go to Florida this summer, like I used to, I'll have a little bit of Florida up here with me.
~ humps
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5 comments:
Awesome! I hope you have a blast :)
Can you ask her to bring along a little bit of the Florida sunshine? cause it'd be awesome to have the summer back.
That was not Anonymous. That was me.
Awwww! That's awesome, Humps! Enjoy your time together!
Oh, I wasn't able to make it to TO like I had planned. :( Things just got so busy here. Soon though!!! I still have to give you that pressie for Baby! I want to give it to you in person. Oh, I had to retire that beautiful outfit you gave Little One when she was at the hospital. For the longest time, that outfit was the only one small enough that would fit her! Now she's 14 lbs! Not bad for a growing preemie, eh?
XOXO
Tatiana - Thanks for dropping by the blog and showing love on this post. Hopefully we'll get some better weather in Toronto for the rest of August. When is Summer going to start!!
C - Too bad you didn't make it back to the city. Hopefully soon. Can't wait for Baby Girl to meet Little One. I guess she's not so little anymore. Glad she got some wear out of the outfit. :)
Oh I missthe good old days when everything was so much easier. I think back and wonder how I ever lived without my computer and without myspace (to keep in touch with my brothers kids), and without email. But then I remember the good old days when I used to get letters in the mail and how nice it was to hear from an old friend. It's not the same anymore.
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