Last saturday we had a family reunion. It’s my husbands family, actually I guess it’s his fathers family. The reunion has had many starts and stops over the years, very hit and miss, but this generation seems to be taking it a bit more seriously, we’ve actually had 2 in a row!
We hold the reunion every other year, sometimes we go somewhere and sometimes we hold it at a family members home. This year my father in law and my sister in law, (hereinafter referred to as my sister) organized the reunion and held it at their homes. They live side by side so there was plenty of room for kids to run and play, adults to sit and visit and catch up. They just opened the gate between the two yards and away we go!
Reunions should be simple, and this one was. Although some live a distance away the reunion is held for one day only. It starts early in the day as people gather, there are snacks laid out for one and all. There are plenty of sodas and water and such. Chairs are placed in the home and outside in the shade for gathering. The money from last years quilt action pays for the general supplies and the meat, all family members are asked to bring a salad or dessert and you’re off and running.
This year we had pulled pork sandwiches supplied and then we all brought our dish. It was quite tasty! And you can’t get more simple than having a dinner where everyone pitches in. They are all quite willing to setup, clean up, and of course pose for the million pictures. My mother in law makes a quilt every year to be auctioned off to support the reunions financial needs. It’s a simple pattern with 4 inch squares and it gets fought over every year. We all buy raffle tickets and hope and pray and tease each other about who will win and why, it’s part of the tradition now. The reunion ends after dinner, when all is cleaned up and everyone has said their last good-bye.
We have some family members that live in other states that we didn’t see for years. Now there are only two of the “children” left, my father in law and his youngest sister, and it seems that the others are missing their parents and now come to these reunions seeking a connection to family. That’s what a reunion is, isn’t it? It’s all about connections, learning where we came from, who we resemble, stories about our parents that we never knew, and roots to pass on to our own children.
Family reunions don't seem as popular as they did when I was a kid. We planned our whole lives around them and summers always seemed to be about going to one or planning one. My children grew up with very few reunions and they don’t know their extended family like I knew mine. I’m grateful we were able to raise them in a place where they lived by both sets of grandparents and most of their aunts and uncles, but the was their whole circle. It’s more than a lot of kids get, but when we do hold reunions I realize how many people they don’t know or feel any connection to. I know that when the next generation is gone, these reunions may be gone too. It may be the passage of time and life but it makes me sad.
It’s incredibly easy to lose family, to lose connections, to lose your roots, but then how do you know where you belong or where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from? Reunions are a wonderful, positive thing. Plan one today!