Three cousins and a funeral

My Dad's sister, Aunt Betsy, has always been very special to me. I have wonderful memories of spending time with her, playing games and laughing a lot. She moved to Mississippi many years ago, but we still keep in touch, and see each other for special occasions. When she called and said that she would not be able to come to Beth's wedding because of my uncle's health issues, I knew that it must be serious, and I was correct.  My Uncle Earl was diagnosed with cancer. He lost his battle with cancer on August 30th. Since he and my aunt are both from North Carolina, they had decided they would  be buried in Henderson, NC. Out of this sad time came a neat reunion.

When we received Abbey's referral, my cousin, Walt,(Aunt Betsy's and Uncle Earl's son) called me and asked about Chinese adoption. He and his wife, Joey, were interested in possibly adopting.  Fast forward about a year; they brought home their son, Noah, from Guangdong, China. We've wanted to get our kids together for some time, but the distance is a formidable deterrent.

Finally, after a few years, Noah, Abbey and Elijah got to meet cousins that they had only heard about.
To say they hit it off, would be an understatement. They loved each other. They adored each other, in fact, it was hard to believe that they hadn't been friends forever.

Noah and Elijah

Abbey with Noah

The three cousins

So, this somber occasion was punctuated with the squeals and yells of glee-filled little ones. I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet there hasn't been many rousing games of "duck, duck, goose" in this funeral home previously.

I happened to look at the casket containing Uncle Earl's body just in time to see a little sandaled foot scoot behind the curtain covering the bottom. I rushed over and pulled a frustrated Abbey away from the casket. I had visions in my head of her knocking the casket over and my Uncle spilling out! She explained that she and Noah were playing "Hide and Seek" and was livid that I had spoiled her great hiding place! Then off she ran...

Aunt Betsy nabbed two wild ones!

The next day, before the burial, we all went out to eat at Cracker Barrel. It was also time for me to catch up with my cousins.

Cousin Ann with Anna

Cousin Walt surveys the crew

My Dad, Mom, brother Tom, Jr, John, Jr and Jamie rock off all the food they had eaten.

More laughter at Cracker Barrel

Noah and Abbey were like two peas in a pod. They both love to laugh and be laughed at, are fast as lightning, very agile, extremely bright, and as rambunctious as they can be! Elijah fit in perfectly as the straight man to either one of the two "wild things". The hour plus drive home was punctuated with many comments and references to Noah. They had a blast!

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. Abbey and Elijah were not happy to see their new found buddy leave. I must admit I started scheming about ways to get Noah and his family to move to NC.

The reason we gathered certainly wasn't a happy situation, but the meeting of these three little ones surely did put a smile on many a person's face!!