I just got
back from my dad’s family reunion a couple of weeks ago. My sis and I took the train from Los
Angeles to Sacramento (about 12 hours), met my parents and then the 4 of us
traveled by train for 3 days & nights to Nebraska. It was a blast!
My dad
grew up with 13 brothers and sisters, and most of them stayed in the Nebraska
area, where they were born and raised on a farm. I loved seeing his brothers and sisters, and their kids and
grandkids at the reunion. It was a
relatively small one this year, as some have passed on, but to me the air was
thick with “heritage” and “stick-togetherness”, even though many of them only
saw each other once a year. One
sister brought photos, newspaper clippings, letters and the like from as far
back as the early 1900’s. That’s
over a hundred years ago! To think
of all those people in my family line, the kind of lives they lived, and how
different their circumstances were, is astounding. My dad drove us to the area where he was born and grew up,
recounting fascinating stories of life on the farm, life in the one-room
schoolhouse, and life in their little 2-bedroom home, where their mom & dad
had one bedroom, and the kids shared the other one.
As Dave
and I were raising our daughters, we tried to make a lot of room for
celebrations. And you know
what? That’s what the girls remember
and talk about today (especially our annual family vacations). All those celebrations have been part
of the glue that continues to hold our girls together in adult friendships with
each other, and with us. Now, our
family has mini-reunions throughout the year—celebrating holidays, birthdays,
new job, new car, new apartment, and whatever else we can find to celebrate. Reunions--a time to unite again!
