Friends and Family in Cleveland

Once the Ohio Scottish Arts School was finished, I stayed in Cleveland for several more days. The rest of my family had driven from Dallas to the east coast to take my daughter to several Irish Step Dance competitions and to see the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on my spouse's side of the family. They met me in Cleveland after the school was over and we spent several days visiting relatives and friends on my side of the family. My kids hadn't seen their 93 year old great-grandmother in about 5 years... and that was at the occasion of my sister's wedding, so they didn't spend any one-on-one time with her. This time, we met at their house (my uncle lives with her and takes care of her full-time). It was neat to see five generations of our family together. I can't look at my son's nose without being reminded of my grandmother, for instance. I have my grandfather's distinctive thumbs as does my daughter. My grandmother's wit is as sharp as ever and my children absolutely fell in love with her. Sadly, though, her memory has gotten very VERY spotty and she really didn't remember us. She's an amazing woman. I've looked up to her all my life.

We visited with my brother and his wife and some of my spouse's and my college friends in the area as well. We watched a spectacular fireworks display in Euclid with our college friends. We also did something very moving... in this day and age, probably subversive as well... while waiting for the fireworks to start, we sat in a circle and passed around a copy of the Declaration of Independence and each took our turns reading aloud from it. It's still a great piece of writing and one that should be given more attention.