Family Reunion
By Dru Ann L. Love
I recently attended my first family reunion ever. We gathered in North Carolina to meet my mother’s paternal family that still resides in the area. My mom went up north when she was 18 years old and hasn’t been to her father’s hometown ever since, until 6 years ago when by chance we met two of my cousins who live in the same town where my niece attends college.
Then last year, the cousins started prepping for a reunion on Facebook and that’s where I discovered all these lost cousins and relatives I’ve never known. I was determined that both me and my mother would be attending this reunion and what a joyous time we had.
I learned the history of my family – and saw the house where the matriarch grew up and raised her 12 kids. Eight descendants of the twelve children were there from over ten different states. The oldest person attending the reunion was 95 and the youngest was two. I learned that we have an author in the family, educators, events planner, philanthropist and entrepreneurs to name a few.
I feel truly blessed that I have found and reconnected with my family.
Have you ever attended a family reunion? What was the outcome?
We have a family reunion every year, planned by two of my granddaughters and a niece. Last year we celebrated my aunt's 100th birthday–wonderful, because she passed away soon after. One of my male cousins in the oldest, I come in next, followed by a female cousin then my sis. We have all sorts of offspring there, grandkids and great grands. We stay in a Holiday Inn Express sort of between everyone and are there for two nights. So fun and nice not to be in charge. I do make a huge pot of chili beans fro one of the suppers though.
We had a nice reunion with my first cousins last year…we're all on the East Coast but it had been some time since we had been together. Lots of fun. Would love to branch out to second and third cousins. Great post! Maggie
Dru, when I was growing up, we had them every year. What fun it was to play with all those cousins!!! Those have kind of dried up over the years, sadly, but maybe there will be one again in the future.
I DO know one of my godson (a 1st cousin) is marrying this September, so I'll get to see that crew then…and I can't wait!
The major family reunions that still go on in my family are those of my late first husband's extended family. I'm still close to all of them, and he and I had three children together, so my kids and I (and my second husband) attend them. Not your conventional situation, I'm sure, but they're always happy to see us and have become very fond of my second husband.
My parents were from Malden, MA (near Boston). Of all my Mom's and Dad's families, we were the only ones who left the area so everytime we went back to visit, it was a family reunion for us. Now my grandparents and all but a couple of my aunts and uncles have passed away and the cousins are scattered. A family reunion for me is when I get both my sons and their families together.