Kith and Kin

I had cousins, aunts and uncles all over New England and beyond. In the 1930's, Mom and Dad took us on a trip to Canada, where we had a distant cousin on my mother's side.

We packed a picnic lunch (in those days everyone did, especially if the ride would be farther than 20 miles) and headed off to the border. The scenery was beautiful. We crossed the St. John River and eventually came to a lovely green valley. The cousin had a farm between the river and mountain foothills, and it seems to my indistinct memory it was in New Brunswick.

The farmhouse was small and neat, with a big red barn, a woodshed and a 'spring house.' The pastures rose behind the buildings and were covered with sheep. My mother's cousin, wife and daughter were very sociable, and offered us children some real buttermilk from the spring house. She gave us little tin cups to go help ourselves. Back at the house she had fresh doughnuts to go with it and we ate like there would be no tomorrow.

Altogether, it was a wonderful time. We begged them to come and visit us in Maine, and several months later they did. We enjoyed the visit again. Several days after their visit, I found some of my jewelry and trinkets had disappeared. When I told Mom, she said I must have lost them and forgotten. All became clear a few weeks later. We received a package in the mail from Mom's cousin--it seemed the cousin's little girl was a diagnosed kleptomaniac, and he was returning her loot. Even if they had never been returned, that wonderful meal of fresh doughnuts and buttermilk would have been well worth it.