Afterglow 2012 - Day 3 Monday

Susie and Curtis spend a lot of time in each other's company. For most people I would say this is a problem but for them it is a good thing. They live together at 5 and they were soon to be married, so they better be comfortable with each other.

Home

One staple of every Kurutz family get together has always been the Kids Table. I'm sure this idea is prevalent in most families but how many kids still look forward to sitting there even after they are no longer classified as kids? Not many. But we do.

Afterglow is both a happy time and sad time for Mom. On one hand she gets to spend the week with her family but on the other she thinks about the ones who cannot be here because of distance (James and Melissa) or death (Timmy). It's hard to balance.

I wanted to take pictures of Brian while he was awake just to prove that he did more than sleep at Afterglow. But the pictures of him sleeping on the ground far outnumber the pictures of him being awake. Brian had succumbed to a near fatal food coma but luckily his LP utilized the "body system" and wouldn't let him sleep alone. No one should have to sleep alone. You should always sleep with someone.

Two of the McKissick boys get in for a photo op with their father who gave them their names. I often wonder what it is like to be a member of that family. But then I remember that I already have my own complex family to figure out and I stop wondering.

Some would consider the Kids' Table to be a banishment of the utmost disrespect. I don't treat it as such. I look at it as being an honor because it often works out in my favor. Not only do I get to hang out with my amazing cousins but I also get to eat the delicious offerings of others while watching the adults wait in line for their turn. They might have been laughing before but look who is laughing now.

The adults gathered for the feast and they did so willingly at their own table. I once thought that I would join their company but now I know that I will forevermore be a kid. So be it.

It's no secret that I like to eat. I wouldn't be fat if this was a lie. The Potluck dinner is incredible because there are so many types of eats available that one plate will not suffice. I wish that I could take more but one must not be greedy. There's no place for that.

Brian's plate was just as random as my own, which is something that I can get behind. He too understands that variety and sampling is the key to participating in a dinner of this kind. There will be another day for a balanced meal. It is not today.

Everywhere I go I bring Timmy with me in my mind and heart. But it is also nice to have a physical representation of him as well. Thankfully Aunt Rose had this picture made to remind us of the beauty of his songs. When all else fails, when the world seems to have turned its' back on you and when there is only one place left to go - it's Afterglow. Truer words have never been spoken.

After all of the food is laid upon the table and the cabin by cabin introductions have been made it is time to chow down. There cannot be chaos. A free for all would invite mass destruction and the annihilation of an organized society. Gail makes sure that does not happen by allowing those who have recently graduated from High School or College go first, so Brian (a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin Whitewater) went to the front of the line. And those sitting at his table (the cousins) were allowed to join in his victory.

The Kids' table has everyone at Afterglow who is capable of raging and Starting the Revolution. There shall be no others who may dictate the future of society in the coming days.