keyholes, your mention of being sent to your aunt's home brings back memories.

Both parents were born and raised in Baltimore. Mom was from a family of nine and dad, five. Only one of those siblings ever left town and that was my aunt who moved to Florida. I recall when she moved. You would have thought she was taking Mom's right arm. They were so close. She's the aunt whose home I went to in first grade when I faked being sick and Mom couldn't get to me.

While growing up, most Saturday afternoons, Dad visited his brothers and sisters. Whoever wanted to go along for the ride, did. I have such fond memories of those afternoons where I literally almost ate my way through the day. Home made peanut butter cookies at Aunt Eve's, Utz potato chips at Uncle Mike's, candy at Uncle Emmett's and the list went on.

The aunts, uncles and cousins always had Christmas parties, and parties on Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day. The kids ran wild while the parents ate and drank together. Those are some great memories of the 60s and 70s. Now families are fairly spread out. I am from a family of five children. One sister lives out of town. And four of the five of us have at least one child living out of town. It's so rare that the whole fmaily gets together which I find rather sad.