two family dinners, two eyebrows raising
So... while I was up in the Great North Woods, (or along the Great North Shore, if you like...) I was able to enjoy a family dinner (at a restaurant, unfortunately) twice. Once at the Salt Bay Cafe (which, by the way, has GREAT vegetarian fare compared to most I've seen), and once at the Damariscotta River Grill, which had excellent scallops, and the best lamb I have ever tasted, believe it or not.
Dinner conversation among my family seems to segment a great deal, and with a big party, that's normal. At the first dinner, which my parents attended, my parents and my Florida uncle talked extensively at one end of the table, and my Maine aunt and Connecticut uncle and aunt were conversing at my end of the table. I got LOTS of questions about the house, and what it was like, and where was it, and all that good stuff... and my aunt looked at me and said "did you buy it alone?" -- to which, of course, I responded, "No... my roommate from my last place and I went in together. It was just more cost effective, and we'd lived together for several years, so we each knew the other was trustworthy."
I got a HUGE raised eyebrowed smirk from my Maine aunt for that. I shot back an evil "don't you dare question me" look. She knows, and I know she knows, and that's all. My parents love me, and they love Nala, so that's that. Who cares what the aunt thinks.
Well, the next night, at dinner, the topics were more along the lines of "what's up with the cousins who aren't here." Inquisitive Maine aunt asked Florida uncle about one of his sons, "Does he have a girlfriend?" The answer was a quick "Nope."
"Does he have a boyfriend?" she then asked.
"I wouldn't doubt it, but I haven't seen him." he replied. It was all I could do NOT to spit out my scallops.
So then, when I was in Boston, and telling my friend Chad about it, I realized, "You know, it makes sense as to why he rarely ever shows up to family gatherings, and why he's never had a girlfriend that any of us remembers..."
Could there be two or more of us in our generation? That would certainly be interesting, wouldn't it?