Just one? I’m ADHD.

Describe a family member.

I didn’t do the Daily Prompt yesterday because I’ve aready said all I want about exercise in “Don’t.” But today’s is nice because I don’t describe my family that much. First, let me give you some context.

My mother had two brothers and one sister. My mother, Carolyn, and her brother, Bill are both gone. Nancy and John are living in northeast Texas, where all of my family is from. My dad has two sisters and a brother, all living. My dad divorced my mom in 1995, and remarried to someone who also grew up in the same area as my mom and dad. Therefore, I have a sister biologically and two stepsisters through her. My stepmother also has two brothers, both living. All of my grandparents including from my stepmother are now dead, but that is very recent. My father’s father was the last to pass a few months ago at 92.

My cousins on both sides were close to me when I was young, but now I’ve lived outside of Texas for longer than I’ve lived in it. I am not close to them because I don’t run into them, not because I have any particular need to avoid them. Yes, we are politically very different and it causes waves. But our family can handle waves. I’m not even the only queer one, and I will leave it to everyone’s imagination who that might be. 😉 So, Southern Baptists mix with flaming liberals and we’re all happy. Truly, not just saying so.

But this says to describe “a family member.” The above is background information. I still won’t talk about only one person, though, because you really can’t talk about one without the other. It’s my cousins Jason and Jonathan. They belong to my aunt Shawn, my father’s youngest sister, and they are relatively famous compared to the rest of us. Jason appeared on “American Idol,” video at the end if I can find it…..

So, Simon Fuller (producer) finds out that Jason is a funeral director, so his first appearance on the show was him singing a beautiful a capellla rendition of Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up.” I was dying. DYING. I think Simon must have picked Jason because they could build such a funny narrative around him.

Enter Jonathan.

Jonathan has been the class clown of our family since he was born. For instance, one year at Christmas he showed up and announced that he was “Rabbi Claus.” He is not Jewish, but we call Santa “Rabbi Claus” to this day. Welcome to the Lanagan family, where if it’s funny, run it into the ground.

So, of course the show has segments of Jason and Jonathan. Jonathan said he should do well because he has such a tiny head that getting a big one could only be an improvement.

Now, they work together at the funeral home, and are both doing well. Jason didn’t make it very far in “Idol” because he left of his own accord (don’t remember why). But he did get paid, so he sunk his money into house building and body transport and a few other things, diversifying to an enormous degree. If you don’t think Jason and Jonathan are a big deal outside of the funeral industry, you don’t know them very well. I do. I felt my heart break when they were both on call for the aftermath at Uvalde. I do not know if they did any of the kids’ funerals, but I do know that Jason’s body transport service was instrumental. They do all the things we don’t think about in everyday life.

Jason recently bought the funeral home in his old hometown, serving families he’s known his whole life. He has, in effect, taken over my role as a preacher’s kid having never been a preacher’s kid himself. It’s not the same, but it’s the same loving patois. Jonathan is in the same boat. They are so admirable, living in the pockets of northeast Texas where it’s easy to establish yourself because industry isn’t already there.

Jonathan is still just as laid back as the moment I met him.

Jason and Jonathan are both successful outside of work, raising their kids to be amazing people. Jonathan (and his wife, Molly) adopted their little girl from China. She makes me laugh at her antics, but no less than all the others. She’s just the one I’ve met the most recently. 🙂 It is really fun to watch first cousins give me more of them…. well, cousins anyway. I can’t do the math.

The bottom line is that my grandfather has a legacy of which to be proud. It took me a while to see how that extended to me, too. He wrote a book about our family. It’s got at least five volumes, maybe seven.

It has been taken over by a different author.