With Pride, We Put the "FUN" in Dysfunctional!

I think I finally have an official Seasonal Disorder!! Snow, snow, snow...

Oh my gosh - It's snowing again! Call it wishful thinking, but spring in on my mind! Temperatures have been down in these parts and the wind chill has been in negative territory for too long. Nevertheless, I have been trying to think "spring", but it's not working! I'm sitting in my Jersey City office one block from the Hudson River and the visibility is so awful, I can't even see the water today! There's not even a chance that I'll make it home before 9 p.m. this evening!

For years, I've done this 3-to-5 hour round trip commuting routine on automatic pilot. I never thought about it and rarely complained, but this winter is starting to feel like some kind of test on whether or not Tish Ferguson will be able to weather all the decades in front of her. Do you think I'm getting old or something? Do you think this could be payback for loading 50 cousins into an Academy Bus to drive from New Jersey to Maryland to celebrate cousin Tom Brusgard's 40th Birthday in what we coined as, "The 1996 Irish Invasion of Maryland" which was unofficially sponsored by the "Association of the Humor Impaired"?!

Okay - I admit it! We invaded Maryland and when we were done Tom Brusgard couldn't get rid of us fast enough! After a lovely brunch at the Idle Hour, we rounded up as many Brusgard, Hart, Sharkey, Conaghan & extended cousins as we could find and tied them to their seats. Then we put our catered food and entertainment items in the baggage compartment and we were on our way. We played bingo & trivia games, gave out prizes and sang songs with Aunt Francis and her spectacular voice leading the way!

When we arrived in Annapolis, we sent two grim reapers to the front door to lure Tom out of the house so we could deliver a perfect 8-inch round birthday cake while all 50 cousins(and a couple of strangers too...) stood on Bev and Rod's front lawn with Fighting Irish and Over-the-Hill signs singing "Happy Birthday" three times in a row without stopping! We ended with a poignant verse of, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow!" I'm telling you, with his mouth seemingly stuck open, Tom looked absolutely ill. I mean the guy could not speak!

Next we handed his wife Katie a dozen roses and told her we had actually liked her better all these years... and then we kidnapped both of them, along with their kids Jen and Eric, Bev and Rod, my brother Sean and his family and away we went for a whirlwind bus tour of the area.

We all wore T-shirts with a logo that screamed, "Tom Who?" as this magical bus made it's way to a beautiful Club House (loaned to all of us by Our Kirsten and Kevin - thank you guys!) and it was there that the second shoe of Tom's big surprise would drop on him like a ton of bricks! Tom's work colleagues met us at the door of this party destination and surprised him too!! And I'm telling you - our Tom never looked so frightened in his life. You see we figured out that he had talked about his family in NJ a little bit at the job, but he had probably forgotten to tell them that we actually put the "FUN" in dysfunctional!!! And by the way... we're damn proud of that fact!

Anyway, we had ourselves a blast enhanced by great food, cousins, so much fun, our Only-In-This-Family Awards Ceremony, Joe Fuller on the guitar, more cousins, bagpipers, wine, beer, soda, cake - easy for a 40 year old to chew, a poetry reading delivered by Cousin Kathy and Irish dancing... Positive energy filled the other room decorated to perfection as "historic" 35 mm films of Tom frolicking through the ages as a child mesmerized our crowd! We laughed and we laughed till we cried and we laughed...

Late in the night, we got back on that bus and I'm telling you the trip from Maryland to home in New Jersey was so quiet that it had to be obvious to passing motorists that we had just attended some older person's birthday party! I didn't realize Tom was actually pretty young that year until I attended his 50th Birthday Party ten years later! It's ridiculous how often I seem to find myself a whole decade off in these situations?!

Life is precious and one of the great things about plowing ahead with the plan to have Tom's Surprise Party - which was run by a force so much bigger than me and us and them - was that the smiles and laughter of all seven Brusgard children lit up the room as they were joined by their parents, Aunt Mary and Uncle Chris, and so many cherished relatives from so many corners of our life including Aunt Marie, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Joe, Aunt Francis, Aunt Marilyn & Uncle Dick, Cousin Pat Kendall, Aunt Elle, Uncle Dan, Aunt Margie, Cousin Maggie DeNuggi... and the rest of you know who you are.

Sadly, our fun-loving and beloved Uncle Chris Brusgard would unexpectedly pass away just a few months after this glorious event. I often look back on this celebration which successfully honored Aunt Mary and Uncle Chris too - as we thanked them for giving us our Tom! When I focus on all those wonderful moments that were woven together by the circle-of-our-family that day... I feel only joy.

Now back to the snow. If this endless weather keeps up, I'm warning you to picture this: It was a snowy day on February 25th 2010 and Cousin Tish was driving down the NJ Turnpike, and her cell phone rang. Picking up, she heard Kate, her voice high with anxiety, warn her, "Mommy, I just saw on the news that there's actually a car driving the wrong way on the Turnpike in New Jersey. Please be careful!"

"One?" I reply, "You've got to be kidding me. I see at least 200 hundred cars! Can you see the nearest rest stop on that Columbus news channel baby? Mommy needs to go!"

Don't worry kids. If it gets that bad, I'll learn to pull over.

Tonight, I have to remember it's only snow and I learned a long time ago that I can actually survive almost anything. Twenty-four years ago, my Uncle Chris walked me down the aisle the day I got married because my Dad could not. I was forever humbled.

Seventeen years ago, Cousin Tom and his enchanting wife Katie became Godparents to my Scott.

On both occasions, my heart was full and Irish eyes smiled. Forget the snow. Today, I'll let great memories rule the day to bring me warmth.


Best regards,
Everybody's Cousin Tish
Score: 16/51

Quote of the Day: "Sunshine cannot bleach the snow, Nor time unmake what poets know”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson