Monday - the end of Madness
Posted
Monday, June 25, 2007 12:14 PM
The end to all the madness is here! The fundraiser for my cousin and her husband went so well! I'm saying this even though one band backed out at the last minute, the band that did show up (offering only 3 hours of play time and charging $200) decided to start late, take several 20 minute breaks, and drank more free beer than should have been allowable, and the karaoke machine decided to stop reading all CDs just as the interest was finally there from the drinking crowd. Still, it was such a success. We were able to raise a little over $4,000 for them. I'm so excited because I considered $3,000 to be a success, and we went well over that!
I was running around like a crazy lady, but I had everything under control. I never freaked out about anything, I was always in charge of all aspects of the event, and I made sure everyone was happy. Unfortunately, since I was running the whole thing, I wasn't able to talk to too many people, but I was happier doing my job and making sure things went great. I know there were several conversations I started with people, only to be pulled away by something and never to return. I feel bad about that, but I'm sure everyone expected that from me.
Now, here's the most disappointing thing I've ever experienced. Keep reading, you won't believe this... My side of the family is huge - my grandparents had 10 children, each with 3 or 4 of their own kids. There are 35 first cousins, 44 in total including spouses. Besides myself and my husband, my sister, and my brother, and of course the two brothers of the girl who the fundraiser was for, there was only ONE of my cousins there. ONE! Of my aunts and uncles (in which there are 18 in total with spouses - not including my cousin's parents, obviously, since of course they would be there), only 7 came.
It made me want to cry, scream, go nuclear, whatever, that my family had better things to do than support their niece/cousin/grandchild (oh yeah, my grandma wasn't even there). What could be more important? I'm embarrassed to even be associated with my own family. My husband had more people in his family there than we did. My own husband's family came out to support my cousin, but our family didn't.
Just know that if you were raised to put family first, you were raised right. My husband's grandparents instilled a sense of pride in family, and it shows in the way they came out to support someone who isn't even a member of their own family. I'm not saying you have to be best friends with those in your family, or that you even have to like them. I just think you should always consider your family, be there if they need you. It's sad for my cousin and her husband that they had to see the absense of their family at the fundraiser. Thank god they had plenty of other friends, and other family, to count on.