Letter from Ali Rouse Royster

By Ali Rouse Royster, 3rd Generation

My family tree is a majestic oak. My mom’s family is, well, ginormous. Both her parents came from large, close-knit, Catholic Thibodaux families. Papa was one of 13, and Granny one of eight, so I have more people I call cousins than I can count. On my dad’s side, there wasn’t as much extended family, but his family was large all by itself. My Rouse grandparents had six children and 17 grandchildren, and we all got together for holidays, spaghetti nights, backyard boils, barbecues…. This made for some very large, fun holidays growing up, but I can see now that it maybe wasn’t so fun for my parents!

Naturally, these gatherings have evolved. I’ve sadly lost all my beloved grandparents, and my cousins and I have added so many babies to the family tree that we’ve started doing more “just us” family gatherings. Because honestly, the logistics of babies in non-baby-proofed spaces are exhausting. Then there’s timing everything around naptime, setting up a good space to change a diaper, etc. I spent one Christmas Day just rocking my fussy, 4-month-old firstborn. And toddlers are independent, but you can’t let them out of your sight! I loved Christmas Eve as a young adult, having festive cocktails by the firepit and attending Midnight Mass. But now we get ready for Santa, so we do Christmas Eve Mass and enjoy leisurely Christmas mornings at home watching the kiddos’ eyes light up at the goodies St. Nick brought. Then we head to my parents’ or my in-laws’ for a feast.

This is the season of life I’m in, and while it is certainly different from years past, I am loving it. I will also love getting back to larger gatherings, making sure my children know their extended family like I knew mine growing up. I thought 2020 might be the year that we started doing that — but it will have to wait a while. For now, I am savoring the slower, smaller nature of these family holidays, and I hope you and yours will, as well.