My Old Kentucky Home, Part 3

I had such a short amount of time to visit with family and then go back home. I hate being somewhere and have nothing to do but kill time. What I hate even more, is having very little time and so MUCH to do. This was one of those times that each minute was presious. I packed in as much as I could, this included helping to schedule and attend, if ever so breifly, a little cousin against cousin poker match. It's funny, I had never had a beer with a single one of these men before this summer evening but there we were like long time neighbors/family sitting and laughing and playing cards. Through a cirsumstances that I'll share another day, I happened to have a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon in my car and donated it to the festivities; my contribution in addition to the $20 that my cousins won from me! The evening weather was threatening with thunder and lighting behind the tree tops. We kept an eye on it and the cards. Later, it started raining and each man and lady held his or her ground until the collected bunch agreed to pick up the entire table we were playing on, cards, chips and all, and move it off the deck and into the garage. During all the chatter and cards, I was able to observe my cousins and realize that old truth, that so much of us is defined in childhood, from the way we laugh to the way we enter a conversation or exit a room. I was taking all this in and the one big BOMB of a memory hit me...
I was turning 5, and it was my 5th birthday. This was the one and only big family style birthday I ever had. My aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents had turned out at my Aunt Shelia's house for the party. I had a chocolate birthday cake with yellow lettering. We ran and played on that hot and bright July afternoon. There's a moment that day that was captured on film, and for one obvious reason, I remember very vividly... me bent over getting spanked, my cousins and brothers giving me my Birthday spankings. Each of them lined up behind the other another, my cousin John holding me in place. I laugh just thinking about that inpromptu organization of kids all working towards the common goal of spanking me. The level of work it took to catch me (I was pretty quick when I was five) and the negotiations that led to who would get their turn first. Never underestimate the power of a group of kids with their mind on something...
After returning back to Michigan, my cousin Doug and I have kept in touch. We both agreed that getting everyone together was... well a blast. I also felt that I hadn't had the opportunity to truly show him my card skills so the seed of a poker rematch was planted. Weeks went by and as my 35th birthday approached I thought about traveling over that weekend and visit my family in Kentucky. There was just too much vistiting I didn't get to do. It now looks as though after 30 years to the day I'll have another piece of cake with my family and have some fun underneath a bright and warm July Kentucky sky. This time, I'm making the most of my time and will make sure to have enough time to play some real poker and talk just a little bit longer, and get to know, a little bit better, my family.