Family reunion weekend is always during the 4th of July holidays. This year it was a mixture of fun and sadness. We attend three reunions during this weekend. The first one is my husband's family mini-reunion. This year, unless one of the children or grandchildren picks up on it, will be the last. Mom and Dad Lewis are in their late 70's and early 80's and they said it was just too much to do in the heat of summer in Florida. So it was a mixture of fun and sadness for sure. My daughter is a TV producer and was able to rent some professional equipment and tape all the reunions. This will certainly be a treasure.
The second reunion was again my husband's family, but his extended family. So many of the older family members have passed away this year and we could see and feel a big difference. It is hard to get the "young" folks excited about being at the reunion. The 20-30 year olds don't seem to realize that this family connection is vital to who they are and how important family really is. But rest assured, we all came around at some point! LOL
The third reunion was that of my Mother's family. We lost our dear Evelyn and so there were many more tears this year than in the past. You could literally feel a difference. When Grandma died we were all sad and missed this great woman dearly, but it was different with Aunt Evelyn. Again, Tabitha taped the reunion, but she also went around and interviewed all the sisters as well as Aunt Evelyn's daughter. Oh, the stories we got. The tone of the stories from the oldest girt...74 years old to the youngest girl at 54 years old was vastly different. I also took my Chatterbox album about my dad to the Thomas reunion. I thought it was special, but it is my dad. This group of ubber talented people (and that can not begin to describe the creativity in this family) loved my book and the story of my father. It was cool.
Two things I did not like about the vacation weekend. I was still in quite a bit of pain from the tooth surgery that I did not get to enjoy all the wonderful food. Phooey! And because I was helping my daughter with the interviews I did not spend the type of time I wanted to with my aunts and uncles. I will determine to send them all a personal snail mail letter before the end of summer.
Enjoy the pictorial review from my reunion weekend.
The second reunion was again my husband's family, but his extended family. So many of the older family members have passed away this year and we could see and feel a big difference. It is hard to get the "young" folks excited about being at the reunion. The 20-30 year olds don't seem to realize that this family connection is vital to who they are and how important family really is. But rest assured, we all came around at some point! LOL
The third reunion was that of my Mother's family. We lost our dear Evelyn and so there were many more tears this year than in the past. You could literally feel a difference. When Grandma died we were all sad and missed this great woman dearly, but it was different with Aunt Evelyn. Again, Tabitha taped the reunion, but she also went around and interviewed all the sisters as well as Aunt Evelyn's daughter. Oh, the stories we got. The tone of the stories from the oldest girt...74 years old to the youngest girl at 54 years old was vastly different. I also took my Chatterbox album about my dad to the Thomas reunion. I thought it was special, but it is my dad. This group of ubber talented people (and that can not begin to describe the creativity in this family) loved my book and the story of my father. It was cool.
Two things I did not like about the vacation weekend. I was still in quite a bit of pain from the tooth surgery that I did not get to enjoy all the wonderful food. Phooey! And because I was helping my daughter with the interviews I did not spend the type of time I wanted to with my aunts and uncles. I will determine to send them all a personal snail mail letter before the end of summer.
Enjoy the pictorial review from my reunion weekend.
wow how wonderful to have so many different reunions and be able to tape them for the memories! hope your tooth ache goes away ASAP
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