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Family Reunion

© Wesley Sharpe

I want to digress from the serious stuff of grandparents as parents, and talk about families. Recently, I was asked if I would like to write an article answering the question, Is the family defunct?

I haven't written the article, but I know that families are under fire. Often both parents work, child care is a problem, and families function differently than 25 years ago.

The success of my family's 1999 reunion has strengthened my faith in families, and shown me how grandparents can help to pull their families closer together.

June 1999 was our first ever reunion. Instead of an elaborate party for our 50th wedding anniversary, we planned a weekend family reunion. Our children bought the idea, and we reserved a private conference center for a weekend.

On Friday, the first day of the reunion, it took a while for uncles, aunts, and cousins to loosen up and get over their long-time-no-see shyness. But pizza and a huge salad bar helped to break the ice, and it wasn't long before the serious fun began. Here are a few of the scenes I observed.

--Thirteen children played together without a serious fight or argument. Children used to an 8:00 p.m. bedtime were still going strong at 11:00 o'clock.

--Because TV and videos were off limits, no one got away with zonking out in front of the boob tube. However, Saturday afternoon naps were okay.

--Two ten-year-olds decided to be camp tour directors. They signed up their cousins and scheduled tours to the horse stable, the chapel, the redwood forest and the campfire circle.

--Adults and kids thumbed through the family picture albums, read verses and personal notes from great, great Grandma's Bible and read the inscriptions on great grandpa's wrestling trophys.

--Saturday evening was family photograph and video time. Jeers and laughter echoed through the lodge as each family posed for the cameras. Children played their brand of ping pong or Uno, while families battled it out at the foozball hockey table or drifted to a corner to talk quietly.

The next day it was over. But it took a few days for the empty feeling in my gut to disappear.

What made this reunion special? For one thing it satisfied a hunger for closer family ties. I'm betting that the memory won't die, and that we've started a new family tradition.

In fact, some of the grownups asked to do it again, so we've reserved the campground for a five day get together in June 2000. And that's not a bad way to celebrate the new millennium.