Yesterday, the entire O’Malley clan converged to our house in Rhode Island for a second Thanksgiving. This is a family tradition. Thanksgiving Day is for the respective families, the Saturday after it’s the O’Malley extravaganza. This year, a difficult year to say the least, everyone came to our house. There were a couple of cousins missing – Kerry, Marianne (one of the many Mariannes), Timothy, Bridget, Matt and oh God am I missing anyone else? And Cashel wasn’t there. But present were:
Uncle Tony and Aunt Marianne
Cousin Liam and Lydia and their son Cormac
Cousin Mike and Lisa and their kids, Fiona, Seamus and Declan
Cousin Marianne and Jimmy and their kids, Jimmy and Michael
Uncle Terry and Aunt Diane
Cousin Rachel
Aunt Regina
Cousin Emma
Cousin Ian
Uncle Tom and Betsy
Cousin Grace
Cousin Henry
Cousins Ben and Sue
Then there was me, Siobhan, her boyfriend Ben, Jean, Pat, and Lucy and Brendan.
And my dear mother.
More people came throughout the day.
Siobhan’s dear friend Colleen, her parents, and Colleen’s sons Elhadji and Mustapha
Brendan’s dear friend Justin, his wife Amber and their three kids
There was so much food it was nearly inhuman.
It was very emotional at times. I am so glad they all came.
Before dinner, cousin Mike organized a game of touch football out in the backyard with all cousins great and small. The age range of the football game was late 40s to three years old. It ended up being the longest football game known to man, and Mike eventually shouted up to the house, after realizing what he had gotten himself into, “SAVE SOME LASAGNA!!”
Keeping everyone in line was a full-time job, since children were racing around holding footballs, and everyone had to be continuously reminded of the rules. But everyone eventually got the hang of it, and it was beautiful to watch. There were times when, listening to the adults coaching the kids on how to play, it sounded like a dress rehearsal of Riverdance.
“Seamus, run – run – run!”
“Declan’s got the ball!”
“Grace, when I say ‘hike’, RUN over there!”
“Fiona! Fiona! This way!”
The light was low in the sky. After a day of rain, the grass was muddy and wet, but the air was beautifully mild, with a sharp nip of autumn in it. The “adults” sat inside, chatting and eating, as a massive group of people, some 6 feet tall, others 3 feet tall, cavorted outside for hours, eventually tromping inside, muddy and happy, to eat the rest of the lasagna.
We are protected. By the love of our clan.
“SAVE SOME LASAGNA!!!”
Great pics Sheil! I believe that last one is actually Mike yelling, “Save some lasagna!” up at the house. At least five times, very loudly! What a great day…
Oops – just realized that you have a caption there!
“”at least five times, very loudly” hahahahahaha
Lucy did so good! How cute were she and Cormac, staring at each other??
I am insanely jealous.
what fun! great pictures….it was so great to see everybody playing. emma is such a knock out!
Why??? WHY???? am i NOT an O’Malley??????????????????????
Like Colleen, like Justin – you are an honorary O’Malley, Mitchell!!
Oh.My.God. Cousin Mike, he of “Things You Already Know,” is *also* Kurt’s dad on “Glee”??? Oh, to be part of a family like yours…
Okay, back to lurking.
Siobhan – I know, Emma is a total knockout!
I love the one of Ben and Seamus converging on the ball.
April – I love that you referenced “Things You Already Know”. A wonderful essay. Good to think about on Thanksgiving, as well.
Here’s Mike’s essay, for those of you who haven’t read it.
Family is a good and beautiful thing.
Kerry – you were missed! We took a family picture on the side hill, just like the old days. Did Tom send it to you?
What fun!
What a day! What a Thanksgiving! So grateful for everyone…thanks for posting these pics Sheil…SO GLAD YOU CAME SATURDAY NIGHT! Hope you like your book…
Bren – I’ve been flipping through it, getting sucked into this or that story. I think I will love it.
I love the picture above of Mike talking to Henry, as Henry looks quite upset. How funny that those two people are first cousins??
I love all the pix, and yes, Uncle Tom sent me the family picture, which had 2 Cormacs!! Photoshop foolery!! Haha! And yes, Mitchell is an honorary O’Malley. I wish Mitchell and Alex could come visit me on tour so we could go out for drinks with Lorna and they could ask every question about Judy their hearts desire.
Sheila: Great photos and recap. Thank you for writing about it for all of us. It was the LONGEST GAME EVER. Henry was upset with his sister because she had been running with the football and bumped into him. I was explaining to him that the point of football is in part, to run into the other person…
Mike – hahahaha “she pushed you? that’s how it’s supposed to go!”
Declan standing with the ball, surrounded by towering grown-up legs is an awesome shot. Look at him!!!