RSVPs are starting to come in (through email or phone calls only: no unnecessary mail system clogging), but there are important people in my extended family from whom we have not yet heard.
My cousin in Calgary says he would like to come to the upcoming Bat Mitzvah. I say like to because he feels that since he didn’t attend my sister’s son’s Bar Mitzvah this past November, he would somehow be perceived as playing favorites if he attended my daughter’s.
When all of the first cousins gathered recently for our aunt’s funeral, the subject of cousin Steve’s flying out came up and he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He was convinced, he said, that he would end up hurting my sister’s feelings if he only came to MY event. I snorted and pointed out it was my daughter’s. Then my sister protested that seeing him was really all that was important and she didn’t mind in the slightest. Truly. Steve smiled and changed the subject, so twin and I decided to leave it alone for a while, but not before enlisting the help of Steve’s three brothers to keep the bugging up.
Yesterday, I phoned and left a message on Steve’s voicemail (come to think of it, it might have been an actual answering MACHINE, but I digress).
“Hello, this is your cousin O’Mama, calling from the Campaign for Interfamilial Interaction. We’ll be holding an event this coming March in lovely and picturesque New England and we hope that we can count on your involvement for the cause. Our operators are standing by to take your call, so please phone us back so we can put you in the yea or the nay category. If we don’t hear from you in the near future, stalking will commence.
Thank you for your cooperation and have a nice day.”
It was worth a shot.
It would be nice, fabulous really, to have this man attend. We live on opposite coasts and although we saw each other frequently when my sister and I were small (we used to climb on him), now we rarely get the chance. We’re left with weddings and funerals and the odd mitzvah, so I am unwilling to let this opportunity pass without doing my utmost to persuade my scattered family to come. I will use whatever means necessary.
My campaign just may pay off as Steve’s younger brother has already heard about my message and the nudging is beginning. Fingers are crossed.
