16:19 - 09.03.2001
The Family Reunion
Every year around Labor Day, our family has a family reunion, the family picnic. It was last Saturday, and I had a pretty decent time.
Now, I have to say this, because once you hear this you'll understand my whole philosophy on "family." I do NOT believe that one should love anyone just because they're related to you. Because what if you love this one person just because she's your aunt or something, and then all of sudden you find out that they're not even really related to you. You just stop loving them? It's all about the blood? I just don't think it should be like that.
Needless to say, I really don't like or love any of the people I saw at this reunion. Actually, to be completely honest, I don't really know most of the people. I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me start from the top...
It was my mom's friend DuWayne, my mom, me, my cousin Mia (20), my Auntie Mikki (T-Mikki), and her son Isaiah (9). DuWayne was driving, my mom was next to him, Me, Mia and T-Mikki were in the back-seat, and Isaiah was in the back-back section ... yeah. There was a lot of arguing since we had to drive from Milwaukee to a suburb of Chicago. A lot of the trip was filled with arguing among the three adults... "No! You gotta take 294 to get on 94!" "No, get off this exit!" "What the hell are you talking about?!" Buy the time we got there, we had driven about 200 miles. It's only 90 miles from Milwaukee to Chicago. We all had a good laugh, and got out of the car. Thanks to getting lost, we got there just in time. Not too late where all the food was gone, and not too early where no one else was there. Perfect. I was starving. All I had on the way there was a tic-tac. The rest of the time was spent sitting around talking to Mia (she didn't know too many people there either), taking pictures, and watching a whole buncha people I don't know play Pictionary. Anyway ... it wasn't half-bad. Though, I did have the feeling that people were staring at me when I first arrived. I just dyed my hair, and it just happens to look really red in the sun, and ... yeah. But, that's alright. I learned that I cousin related to me by marriage that I never really like anyway smokes... I'm thinking about telling on her, but I don't want to be a snitch ... or a bitch. We all made our take-home plates, and left the park to drive back to Milwaukee. It was dark by then, and most of us fell asleep in the car, except the driver of course.
I do feel a lot more clear on my feelings toward my family. Maybe it's the fact that I'm biracial, and most of them are black, or something. I just don't feel like I really fit in. And perhaps, I never will. But I do care about the people that matter to me. My mom, Mia, T-Mikki, Isaiah, and a few other close relatives that I see more often that just often enough to remember their names.
