Vacation Stories!

This week, I'm away in Rhode Island, on our annual 4th of July vacation. In my absence, I'll regale you with a family vacation story.

When I sent Uncle Joe the pictures that Maureen sent me from the James Mulvaney family, he called me up, and, among other things, the story of the time they met James on their way out to Breezy Point. A bus from the city would drop people off, and those people would catch rides out to Breezy Point with people heading that way.

There are two versions of this story:

According to Uncle Joe, he was in the car with Nana and Papa, and they saw James and pulled over to give him a ride. Because they were generally catching rides with strangers, he didn't give any thought to whose car he was getting in. He didn't notice who else was in the car until Nana said, "Hello, Jimmy." He was surprised. "Oh! Hello Sister."*

According to Aunt Betty, this event happened when she was in the car with Nana and Papa and a friend of hers. They saw Jimmy and pulled over to give him a ride. He was aware of whose car he was getting into, but when he did, he motioned towards Betty and her friend in the back seat and asked, "So which one's my niece?"


*All of her siblings always called Nana "Sister." She was the baby of the family, and it was the vestiges of having called her "Little Sister" when she was a child.