Cousins and Friends

  “Time passes and we may be apart. But cousins always stay close at heart.”

Like most kids in America, so many of my childhood memories are centered around time spent with my cousins.v And compared to most of my friends I had a lot of cousins. My Grandma and Grandpa Myerscough lived in Charleston when I was first born but moved to Robinson, Illinois shortly after.  And every so often...at least Easter and Christmas, I can remember them loading us up and taking them to Robinson for a few days. And by "us" I mean David Lee, Rob, Jeremy, Paul, myself, Tara and Laura. At that time I think Matt and Tiffany were a bit too young...Melissa wasn't even born yet. 

They had a little three bedroom ranch, and it also had a rec room off the back of the house. No clue where we all slept, but we did. At Easter I can remember Easter Egg Hunts. They had a wooden post fence with good spots for plastic eggs. Grandpa had an electric moped (motorized bicycle) that the boys would always fight over. They would take turns riding it around and Tara and I would get so upset because we were always told no, we were too little. The Pamida grocery store was a quick few blocks to walk, so sometimes we would walk up there to get candy or treats. But only if the boys were willing to take us. During the summer Grandma would take us to the Robinson Country Club pool to swim. 

Evenings were full of board games. They had a fun slingshot board game, similar to shuffle board where you would fire the roller balls for points. But the favorite was Monopoly. Although looking back I don't think we followed the rules very well. Jeremy was always the banker and would charge more for things or have you paying extra ''fines" but it kept us occupied. 

In December for Christmas, Grandma would always bring us down on the 21st or the 22nd, and then our parents would come on the 24th. The Myerscough's ALWAYS celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. Even into my adulthood we were still getting together. I think the last time we were all together on Christmas Eve was in 2009. Leah was 18  months old and I was pregnant with Kiersten. After that our families were too busy, married, having kids of their own and trying to celebrate when we could.  As a child I only remember one time we ever celebrated somewhere other than Grandma's house. Cindy had to work on Christmas Eve, she worked at the local Wal-Mart, so we celebrated at Kevin's house so she could join us when she got off work. 

Our celebrations always included my grandparents and their 5 sons and spouses, lots of kids/cousins, Aunt Carol (Grandpa Merle's sister) and her husband Randy. And Aunt Carol's two daughters Jackie Leland and Vicki Weck, as well as their kids. As we all started getting older and had significant others I think there were times we had 50 people, at least, in a house. I always remember the drive home from Robinson on Christmas Eve. Charleston was about an hour. Laura, Matt and I were usually crammed in the backseat of my dad's cadillac. We would usually hear a radio newscaster talking about Santa being spotted in the sky. I'd look out the window and watch for his sleigh.  

Back in Charleston we spent a fair amount of time together too. Aunt Karen was our daycare lady when we were young, so we were always at their house. I remember being there when Uncle Matt was born and my parents called to tell us that we had a brother. I wanted them to name him Jonathan. When I was in Kindergarten I vividly remember a time I was playing in the yard and I watched My Uncle Mark's truck pull into a driveway across the street. And a few minutes later Uncle Brian. I would find out later that day that my cousin and her family were moving in across the street. That made for a fun childhood. Tara and I were the same age, and in the same class at school. We spent so much time together we became more like sisters at times. We rode our bikes all over, played at the VFW park and were a constant in each others lives. There was hair pulling and scratching, but also lots of love and laughs. 

We also spent lots of summer weekends together cooking out. I recall backyard barbecues celebrating my birthday in June. My parents always had quite the 4th of July celebration and the end of July early August there would always be a celebration for Paul, Jeremy and Matt's birthday. Sometimes it was a labor of love to be together so much, but now as I watch my kids with their cousins, I realize what a blessing it is for them to have one another. The same way I was so very lucky to have all of mine.

Celebrating one of my birthdays, at 1905 20th street in Charleston.

The cousins at Christmas in Robinson. Probably 1989 or 1990.
David Lee, Rob, Jeremy
Paul, Melissa, Amy, Tara
Matt, Tiffany, Laura

Amy and Tara in Matching Christmas Gifts. This 
was the year we celebrated at Kevin and Cindy's house on Harrison. 

Grandma and Grandpa's 50t anniversary, Sept 1998
Laura, Matt, Rob, Melissa, Tiffany, Paul, Amy (holding Daniel) Jeremy & Tara.

Amy and Tara with our dolls. They were our Christmas gifts. Probably 1982 or 1983 in Robinson, IL.

Grandpa's Retirement party August 1991 or 1992, at the Elk's Club in Robinson. 
Rob, Tara, Grandma Loraine, Grandpa Merle, Jeremy, Paul
Laura, Tiffany, Matt, Melissa, Amy
David Lee was at track Camp.

Playing a game in the rec room in Robinson, Summer 1984.
Tara, Laura, Paul, Jeremy, Amy

This was the bedroom in Robinson that I always remember sleeping in. Laura, Amy and Tara.