We did it! 40 of us came together in my Kirkland, Washington home this summer for a long-awaited family reunion. Children and grandchildren, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews came from New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, California, and even from Berlin, Germany to celebrate.
For me, a sun-lit moment occurred when my granddaughter, 2 year-old Anika reached out and took the hand of 3 year-old Ceci, her cousin from Berlin. “We are family,” she said.
And I admit it, I had to swallow down my tears, because in 3 words, my granddaughter Anika spoke the core truth of why we had come together.
We are Family.
We have different ideas about almost everything:
What to eat (vegetarian for some, barbecued steak for others)
When to get up (5:30 AM appears to be the time of choice for 1 year-old Louisa, but definitely not for the rest of us.)
And where to go (Seattle Center and the busy waterfront shops for some, a quiet forest hike for others.)
And yet we somehow managed to accommodate everyone, not all at once, and not without compromise. We laughed a lot, ate a lot, talked all hours of the day and night, and we cried together, especially when we had to part.
Through it all the blessed truth rang through, and left us all smiling to remember:
We are family.
Ahh, summertime. Impromptu barbecues, chilled watermelon, homemade ice cream, tank tops, flip-flops, belly-flops, and, for many of us, reunions.
Last week, the little town of Eden, Utah experienced an enormous spike in population as 30 of Mama Billie's (sitting pretty amongst her grandchildren and great grandchildren) relatives from Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Utah checked into the Snowberry Inn. An iced keg of rootbeer from Rooster's Brewery graced the kitchen, providing refreshment in-between shopping trips, hikes, boating expeditions, wildlife safaris, target shooting, hot tubbing, alpine sliding, the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo, a tour of Model Linen, and games of volleyball, wiffleball, horseshoes, and cards. It was the 2nd Annual Eden, Utah Gray Family Reunion. And it was fun, fun, fun!!!
But I'm exhausted.
When my husband and I got up at 5 Sunday morning to take my sister and Mama Billie to the airport, we thought we'd have a couple of days to catch our breath before Mom, my 3 boys, and I drive to Colorado for my 20 year high school reunion. But then my uncle, aunt and their 3 teenagers called after their whirlwind trip to Yellowstone to say they're staying at our house for a couple of nights before heading back to Dallas. So! I popped a couple of elk roasts in the Crock-Pot and made a fresh batch of iced tea. The good thing is, I'm not the only one who's exhausted so while some of them went to Costco to get family reunion photos developed, the rest of us are hanging out at home, watching The Simpsons Movie.
Still. I'm exhausted. And I've got three more reunions (one for my advertising agency, one for my husband's high school, and one for my high school) to go!
Anyone else having a big reunion (or two or three) this summer? My friends just had one in Durango, CO with 100 family members! Holy cow! Steph, don't you have your 20 year high school reunion this summer, too? Or has it already happened?
Okay, so I promised I'd fill you all in on the summer family reunion.
True to my word, I did not write this summer, but still the story wove in and out as our family gathered here in my creaky old house with old plumbing. They came from Berlin, Germany, from Santa Fe, from San Anselmo, from Tucson, from Texas. And as we gathered, events began to unfold.
We had a wasp invasion, right through the living room wall one memorable Sunday morning.
We had a major plumbing blow-out (tree roots in the pipes).
We had a record heat wave, 103 degrees, and no air-conditioning.
But we also had a great wedding reception, welcomed the newest baby, Anika Faith (see picture) and celebrated the first birthday of our Berlin baby Ceci, along with that of her Daddy, Michael, (my eldest son.) We had lots of late breakfasts on the deck, a trip to the zoo, lakeside swimming parties at my daughter Laura's home (oh hooray for that lake when the temp soared to 103).
And each day, no matter what the joy or catastrophe (usually some of each) I journalled, just a bit, before I went to bed. Just bits, but the story was weaving, in and out, flashes of character, bits of dialogue, scenes to remember, some dramatic, some funny.
Will these come into the new book I'm beginning? Maybe. But for sure they are woven now into the fabric of my life, part of the bigger Story. The story of family that undergirds everything else I write. I'll share next time some of the smaller bits, those colors and textures that stand out, the pieces of that bigger story.
Arrr.
Thar she blows! Thar she also apparently got some original Babymouse art to celebrate the upcoming 48-Hour Book Challenge. Yes, MotherReader is throwing down the gauntlet yet again and it's up to you pretty pookies to do some serious reading. The rules are here. This week-end, tackle those mounting piles you haven't had a chance to go through yet. Not me. This thing's falling on the same week-end as my husband's birthday, so sorry m'dears. Then again, you should be grateful. If I write two reviews in a day my head starts to swell up and I get a violent onset of "the fevers".
Go win it for the gipper then.
If you weren't around last year you might have missed the fact that the MotherReader blog enjoys hosting a yearly 48-Hour Book Challenge. Here are the details as she states them.
So the chosen weekend is June 8–10, 2007.
Here are the basic guidelines to start. I am open to suggestions if you’ve got them, or ask me questions so I can establish a related rule. Here goes:
1. The weekend is June 8–10, 2007. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the eighth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.
2. The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. No graphic novels. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.
3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it (but don’t stand next to me). If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.
4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review.
5. For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. When you write your final summary on Monday, let that be the last thing you write that day, so for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.
6. Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 11.
7. Sign up in today’s comments. You’re welcome to post the challenge on your site to catch the bloggers that come your way but don’t come mine. Point them to today’s post to sign up. On Friday, June 8, I’ll have a starting-line post where you can sign in to say you’re officially starting the challenge.
I’ll work on some prizes for most books read, most hours spent, and most pages read (if it isn’t the same winner as most books read). Last year I allowed an alternate, personal goal challenge, but this year the logistics of that might kill me. If you want to play along, but not really do the Challenge, that’s fine, but no prizes. I’ll have a 48 Hour Book Challenge Solidarity Post to list your personal weekend book challenges.
The truth of the matter is that I've grown so bloated and lazy in the last year that I don't think I'm capable of reading quickly anymore. I've been alternating between the newest
Kiki Strike and
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides for about a week now with scant progress being made to either. So I will probably not be participating myself. For those of you with kidlit blogs desiring fame, fortune, and fabulous prizes, however, this is a chance for publicity. Last year's winner was
Midwestern Lonestar and the challenge went so well that
School Library Journal even did a piece on it. Go to it, my pretties. I'll just sit here, eat my chocolates, and grow plump on the fat of the land.
I've got a reunion of sorts coming up at the end of the summer, but nothing of the scale of yours, Wendy! But most of all, what jumped out at me from this post was phrase, "So I popped couple of elk roasts in the Crock-Pot..." Elk roasts? This is a new one on me!
Happy summer, Wendy!
We do a family reunion with my aunts, uncles, cousins and families every summer in Merrimac, WI. This year the best we could do was 50, but next year we're shooting for the full 70. (and 2 more years before the 20th HS reunion for both me and hubby)
Yeah, Tina. Elk roasts. The DH is a hunter, and actually, elk is very tasty and lean. :)
And erica and christy, 70 will be crazy-awesome! Thanks for commenting!
Wow, it was a happy invasion, Wendy! I have a cousin's big birthday coming up and will see family there, but we're not really a reunion kind of family. Glad yours was fun!
Wow, Wendy! I'm exhausted just reading. LOL! Hope you had an awesome time!