Aunt Polly & the Odens

While I was back in the Big Apple I took a trek out to South Orange, NJ to visit some old family friends, people I haven’t seen in over 14 years. Aunt Polly is an exceptionally loving and generous soul who used to live out in St. Paul, Minnesota and befriended my mom through her daughter Mila, whom she now resides with. Polly was really disappointed that my mom didn’t get a chance to see her while she was back visiting the east coast a couple months ago and my mom was really hoping I’d go visit them while I was in the area.

Polly and I had brunch together at a dinner near the Amtrack station and after all these years of not seeing or hearing from each other, it was great catching up with her and seeing recent pictures of all the Oden boys. Those guys used to harass the hell out of my “city-slicker” self whenever I came out to visit them in the mid-west, but it was always done with good-natured fun. Polly ran a tight ship but all her kids (now grown adults with their own kids) are the epitome of class & kindness and serve as stellar examples of what it means to be a close-knit family.

After brunch, Polly and I stopped over at Mila’s who was preparing the house for an evening cocktail party for some prominent board of education folks. I chatted with Mila’s daughter Reina for a bit, who’s around my age and is a 3rd grade teacher now, before helping out around the house to get the place ready for their evening guests. Afterwards, we headed over to Eric’s house where his wife was getting dinner ready for us and while their two kids Isabelle and Eric Jr. were just chilling in the meantime.

Eric, Polly and myself sat outside on the porch and just shot the breeze, sometimes running nostalgic about my mom’s time living with them as well as other things. Isabelle took a liking to using my digital camera and seeing that she had a natural eye for composition I politely suggested to her parents that they should invest in a camera and possibly some photo classes for her to explore and further develop her obvious talent. Eric Jr. and I tossed the football around a bit and from what I heard he’s already eating up the competition at his young age, and only looks to get better. Before heading back into the city I got a nice family shot of Eric & Co. and promised to keep in better touch now that we were all reconnected. Hopefully next time I visit I’ll get to see the rest of the Oden-Posse. My mom was super-excited to hear of my visit and I could tell it made her week to hear through my eyes how Aunt Polly and the family was doing. I was really glad I got to see them again too.

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