I definitely have a love/hate relationship with family reunions. One of my problems is that my mom and dad moved from Virgina to Chicago “for two years” in 1965 and never went back! So while everyone else remained in Virginia, growing up I always felt like the “outsider.”
Another thing is that the older I get, the smaller my memory is of the next generations. I grew up visiting my grandma and grandpa over the summer when I was little. Great Aunts and Uncles were regular visitors, and each year my relationship with them grew and grew. Fast forward 30 years and my Aunt Cele whose 80th birthday we are celebrating, is the oldest memory of my family. Guess who is second . . . my mom!
So as yearly visits were less and less, obviously our family over the years has grown exponentially . . . cousins that I remember being around 15, are now married, and have been for a couple years!
The other thing is that I always forget is that how long it takes for 11 people to get out the door. Yesterday my Mom, Aunt and Uncle picked me up at the house that I stayed at Friday night. It was around 3:15 and the game plan was to check into the week rental they had and change and go back to the house for drinks, appetizers and dinner.
Guess what time we actually got there? 6:30! And I had hardly anything to eat beforehand, so I was more than ready for my Aunt’s North Carolina pulled pork bbq. I follow her same recipe, but hers always turns out better!
I am thankful I am here though. One tradition we have in our family is saying grace before the meal. We were wrapped around this huge living room, hand in hand while we said grace. I happened to be standing next to the 80th birthday girl, and as she scanned the room of all these family members who came far and wide for her special weekend, the tears started to flow and she asked me “can you count how many people are here?” A moment later, I whispered “43 including you!”
Her reply? I am blessed with all this love! In that moment I was so glad I made the decision to make this trip. It will be one of my greatest family reunion memories.
I hope I have had a chance to email all of my 101 days of summer particpants – I won’t be posting the weekend results and posting again until Tuesday morning – I hope everyone understands!
Do you have yearly family reunions? Is it a love or hate adventure??
Until Tuesday, be safe and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
And I miss Tony . . . can’t wait to see you tomorrow babe!! I love you!
Hugs, Biz
Too fun! Family dynamics can be sooo dicey, reunions can be fun or just painful! (my experience anyway!)
Glad you are having fun, have a great reunion with Tony!!!
Awww! What a reply! That just makes my heart smile reading it 🙂
Still rockin’ my 101 days of summer challenge…I’ve stayed so motivated!
How nice to have 42 family members to make your aunt feel special!
Funny you should bring up family reunions. We have ours this Sunday and this will be the first time Nick comes. I’m nervous because I don’t think I can remember everyone’s name!!! It’s going to be awkward…..but oh well, we never stay very long, haha. The food isn’t half as good as that pulled pork! We get frozen burgers and dogs. Yuck.
I love family reunions!! I am attending one at the end of June for the family of my Great-Great-Great Grandparents. My Great-Aunt told my Mom that 100 invites went out, but she didn’t send invites any further than my Mom’s . So that means all of us GGGGrandchildren and our children are invited thru our parents. I can’t wait for the insanity!!! It’s gonna be HUUUGE!!!
i hear you on how long it takes to get everyone out the door….when my parents come it is crazy slow. love the pulled pork! hope you made it home safe 🙂
all my family reunions are centered around re-hashing negative feelings, fights, emotions, eachothers crap; not fun! lol
We don’t have family reunions anymore, but when I was a kid, we had them once a year. I kinda miss them!
I’m glad that YOU were surrounded by all that love too Biz!
We have a saying that fish and family stink after 3 days. So, I also have a love/hate relationship with the family reunion. A couple days is just right, after that I find all the love in the world can’t overcome the annoyances I begin to feel. I know, I’m a bad, bad person.
OMG Helen – your comment about family and fish smelling after 3 days made me laugh out loud!!
I bet your pork was just as good! It looks awesome!
We haven’t had a fam reunion in years, but we aren’t a big family. I do get anxious even before big get togethers, I don’t even know why.
That is so great that so many people came together for the occasion. I do not think my family is that big, even with all the cousins from my grandfathers side of the family.
I think there have been some family reunions, but I’ve never gone to any. All of my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents live in the Vancouver area, so we see them on all the holidays, if not more often, anyways. It’s just the more extended family, as they all live on the prairies. They seem to like to have the reunions, and want all us city folk to make the trek out to the farms. But they are never at a good time for me to go, so I don’t. Plus I wouldn’t really know anyone there anyways.
Think it’s at least 10 years since our last family reunion which really was just us going to Cali to visit and everyone being there 🙂
Oh yummy that plate does look delicious!!!
Aww such a sweet exchange b/w you and your aunt! It gave me goosebumps- I love it!
My mom’s side of the family has big reunions. They used to be a lot more planned and talked about and we went a few times. I think over the years they started skipping some years, then older family members passed, people had kids and got busy, etc. so we haven’t gone in years and years.
But other than that my family is pretty close. None of us have really been in the same area at once except for a few at a time so we’re pretty good about long distance communication, staying in touch, and making an effort to visit. But I still do miss when we did live closer and saw each other more often for Sunday dinners or the “smaller” holidays instead of just the big ones. The one thing I am sad that my kids aren’t going to have is the large, large family. My mom has 4 other siblings and my dad has 5 other siblings, so there were a LOT of aunts and uncles spread out in age. I’m the 2nd oldest on each side so I was lucky to see the births of many, many younger cousins. I have 17 first cousins, alone. I just have 1 brother, so I know my kids are going to be kind of limited in the cousin department and not get to be excited by so many new “baby cousins” they get to hold and fawn over!
Aw, so glad you’re having such a great time at the family reunion. My family is pretty close (parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma). However, I’m 28, but I would hardly know my Mom’s aunts and uncles and cousins, but they do have yearly family reunion that we haven’t been to in years.
Awww! I loved reading this post! Even when we don’t see family for awhile, it can be weird at first, but so worth it in the end! Hope you enjoyed the rest of you weekend Biz! You are so blessed to have such a great family 🙂
Awww, now I’m all verklempt! What a sweet thing for your aunt to say! Sounds like it’s been a busy and fun weekend!
Family isn’t our favorite subject with my mum. (Dad just cares too much for his side of the family which mum and I can’t really stand for) My mum has 5 siblings (two of them passed away) and no she didn’t ever get anything positive from them unly ugliness, negativity, troubles and such… so no we don’t even care. I miss a couple of aunts every once in while, love a couple of cousins, have to live with a grandma and I think thats it. That’s all I care for. I don’t even think it is sad unless it’s Christmas season and I can’t stop watching Xmas movies and of course all the tv have xmas episodes. and geez I am a muslim living in a muslim country =) get my point?! yeah… My family is my parents, my boyfriend, my dog, and two cousins. Done.
Sounds like a great reunion! 43 is a lot! Your plate of food looks delicious! Isn’t it funny about family recipes, I can follow them exactly but the original is always better.
This really is such a sweet post, Biz! Sounds like a great get together – and I concur – heaven on a plate indeed!
Awwwwwww, this post just warms my heart!! There is NOTHING like being surrounded by family!! 🙂 So glad you’ve been able to catch back up with your loved ones!! That meal looks very similar to what MY family had last night at a get together!! BBQ and baked beans… mmmmmmmmmm!! 🙂