あつまり - a small family event

上野動物園 Ueno Zoo

土曜日の昼、先月息子の体調不良で駄目になった集まり、リベンジでうちの母（父は町内会の集まりで来られなかった）、真ん中の姉と姪、伯母、親戚のお姉さんと大叔母が揃った。楽しかった。数日前から従姉が来るのを楽しみにしていた息子も大喜び。従姉と奇声を上げて遊んでいた。

母方の親戚筋はほぼ全員地元に居住のため、私が小さい頃から頻繁に集まった。正月、お祭り、花火、敬老の日、クリスマスはもちろん、何も行事がなくてもなーんとなく同じ年頃の子供同士、祖母宅で集まり遊び、親はお茶飲んだり、ご飯を支度したり、祖父を囲み一杯やったりしていた。大きい部屋が大人、小さい部屋が子供、と分かれていてその間は襖で区切られており、大人の部屋に入るにはノック（襖なのにどうノックしたかは定かじゃないが）した記憶がある。大人の部屋は入ると時により会話が止まったり、祖父に「何だ！」と半ば叱られ口調で聞かれた。

３連休最終日の昨日は上野動物公園へ。本物のゾウやキリン、ゴリラの大きさに興奮していた。パンダは超人気で遠目に見たが、こちらも大きかった。帰りは上野から一本で戻り、旦那の祖母宅で両親も一緒に夕食。こちらのお宅は正月に集まるが、旦那が小さかった頃はやはり従弟妹たちと何かと集まったらしい。
江戸っ子で気風がいい祖母も今年で９３歳、大分耳が遠くなり、独り住まいが心配になってきて、義母が義伯母と交代で寝泊まりしている。

良く言うけれど、自分が子供を持ってつくづく親の苦労、ありがたみが身にしみるようになり、そして折にふれ家族のつながりの大切さを実感する。

On Saturday afternoon, my mom, my sister and my niece, my aunt, my grandma's cousin and her daughter (they live close by) came to our house for lunch. Koki was happy to see everyone but especially his 3 year old (soon to be 4 years old) cousin Kazusa. Last time she came, Koki was not ready to share many of his favorite toys, but this time he was eager to share all his toys and have fun with her. They ran around our small condo room with toys in their hands.

Again, when I was a child, my mom's family, because everyone except for an aunt who came on Saturday lived in a same neighborhood,  used to gather around all the time at my grandma's house (she passed away this March). Children would sit in a small room and have lunch or dinner and parents and adults would eat in a bigger, fancier room with chairs and tables. Children used to have to knock on fusuma doors (old Japanese style sliding doors or panels) when we entered the adult's room. There used to be distinct atmosphere of the adult's room which felt like going into a principal's office or something.

Yesterday being a holiday, we went to a zoo. Koki was happy to see real elephants, a gorilla, a giraffe, etc. walking in front of him.  Because it was a holiday, the place was packed with families and young couples. I hope to go back again on a weekday then maybe we can get a closer look at pandas which had a long waiting line.
On our way back, we stopped by at Toru's grandma's house. His parents were also there and we had dinner together.  His grandma lives in a small 2 story house where Toru's cousins used to gather around when they were little.
Now grandma's 93 years old and since she lives alone, Toru's mom takes turns with her sister (Toru's aunt) and stays with her.

A great weekend.