{"id":488,"date":"2008-11-10T09:30:26","date_gmt":"2008-11-10T14:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/?p=488"},"modified":"2008-11-10T09:47:15","modified_gmt":"2008-11-10T14:47:15","slug":"guest-blogging-aunt-mary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/guest-blogging-aunt-mary\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blogging: (Aunt) Mary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hope’s note: today’s post comes from a family friend that my sisters and I have adopted as our very own aunt. I’m not sure why, with a family as big as ours, we feel the need to keep adding extra family members. Maybe because our family is so amazing, we think that everyone should be a part of it. Maybe it’s because we have a lot of love to go around. I suspect that a lot of it has to do with how awesome Mary (along with all of our other honorary relatives) is. Whatever the reason, we’ve dubbed Mary an Aunt and she definitely lives up to the title. And I’m not just saying that because she makes the best brownies in the whole entire world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mary has a fantastic blog, located <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>, and she also writes romance novels. I have read both of her published books and they are chock full of naughty (I keep wanting to say bits or parts, but that just sounds bad) sections. Maybe one of these days I’ll feature her during Book Report Friday.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m very flattered that Hope invited me to guest blog during NaBloPoMo along
\nwith the women to whom she’s related by blood. \u00c2\u00a0Although I sometimes sign my
\ncomments “Aunt” Mary Stella, she and I aren’t actually related. \u00c2\u00a0This
\ndoesn’t mean that we aren’t family. \u00c2\u00a0I believe that family encompasses more
\nthan the people with whom you share DNA. \u00c2\u00a0Each of us also gets to expand our
\nfamilies with good friends. Our mutual connection goes wayyyy back. \u00c2\u00a0Her
\nfather (Hi, Ricky!) and my older brother Joe (You bet I want everyone to
\nknow he’s older!) met and became friends in college in the 70s. \u00c2\u00a0(The
\ngeezers!)<\/p>\n

I’ve known the family for many years. \u00c2\u00a0Rick, Patricia and Melissa came down
\nfor Joe and Perri’s wedding. \u00c2\u00a0I remember when Hope and then Christina and
\nAllison were born.<\/p>\n

Over the years, our families have gathered every August for a weekend of
\ntogetherness, camaraderie, music, and spaghetti sauce. (Wish I’d been to all
\nof them, but I’ve made it to many.) One of the things I like most about
\nthese get-togethers is the that, as a group, we spend a lot of time talking
\nand sharing quality time — playing music and games, singing, cooking large
\nmeals in the kitchen, and gathering around the big oval table to share the
\ndelicious food.<\/p>\n

I have to say, it’s been fun watching the second generation grow up and
\nexperiencing you in various stages (blue or pink hair!) as you’ve matured.
\nI’ve always been struck by the equality between the generations. \u00c2\u00a0All of you
\n“youngsters” were welcomed to participate in any of the conversations and
\nencouraged to share your opinions. \u00c2\u00a0Interesting, thoughtful discussions
\nensued. \u00c2\u00a0I’ve never picked up a vibe from any of you that you thought we
\nolder folks were terminally uncool or woefully out-of-touch. \u00c2\u00a0A mutual
\nrespect exists and reinforces the bonds we share.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, I told my brother Joe that I was really impressed with
\nall of the second generation Pastafarians. \u00c2\u00a0You were neat kids and you’ve
\ngrown up to become a terrific group of intelligent, interesting individuals
\nwho give a damn about our planet and its people. \u00c2\u00a0Not to make a pun on your
\nname, but this gives me hope. \u00c2\u00a0If all of you are a good representation of
\nyour generation, it bodes well for our collective future.<\/p>\n

It strengthens me to see that you’re willing to stand up and speak against
\nhuman rights atrocities, and work for a healthier, cleaner environment.
\nHope, I think it matters that you finished your new CD. \u00c2\u00a0It’s important for
\nothers to see someone have a dream and commit the energy, time, talent and
\nmoney to make it come true.<\/p>\n

I’m proud to be an honorary aunt and look forward to a lot more years of
\nPastafarian Family Reunions.<\/p>\n

Thanks again for inviting me to blog!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hope’s note: today’s post comes from a family friend that my sisters and I have adopted as our very own aunt. I’m not sure why, with a family as big…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5yggS-7S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":505,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions\/505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoperoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}