Okay, so trying to sort out the Dekens is like trying to unravel the sands of time. I find myself knee-deep in a family with 13 aunts and uncles that are blood related - and that’s just one side. Then I have to contend with who divorced who, who’s still friends with what person’s ex-, and which of the 40 cousins lives where.

Right - on one side.

I was given a guest list formatted in Excel - nice - but lacking in detail - not nice. When I ask Stephen to list off his aunts and uncles, I get bunches of, “um… and, wait… okay…”

My family (to speak of) currently consists of a grandfather, a grandmother, two or three cousins of my dad’s, an aunt and an uncle on my mom’s side, and wow. That’s about it. Of course, this doesn’t count the estranged aunt on my mom’s side, the estranged aunt and cousins on my dad’s side, and the dozen first-cousins-once-removed on my mom’s side that I’ve never (?) met.

Like I’ve mentioned before, step up the dysfunction in the family and your guest list grows short.

So the Deken family beckons, grinning, almost daring me to jump in and detangle. Yeah, I think it’s feast or famine here. (And it won’t be Stephen’s side I’ll be clinging to at the next Deken family reunion - not unless I want Aunt Fran to be registered as Aunt Joan in my brain for all of eternity!)