Family Reunion - kernel of love, a bridge

I recently went to a family reunion, one that I organized. For years, I was "too busy" to participate in any Christmas gatherings, reunions or the such. I got almost totally out of touch with the larger family and more focused on my wife's family than mine. It had been five years since my family had it's last reunion, and some members of the family I have not seen since that time. So much water has flowed under the bridge since that reunion. This article is intended to describe that bridge and its relevance to today's family. This picture tells the story. Uncle Russ. Is he loved by his nephews or what?

Unfortunately, the last five years has seen the loss of half of my mothers' siblings. One aunt, one uncle and their spouses have passed away. Other relatives on this side of the family have also passed - some young, some elderly. That water will never pass under that bridge again. I have regrets for not asking them many questions and reminding them that I loved them. I had little interaction with them and missed a great deal of my heritage, yet I knew them as if I lived with them. Why is that, I ask? For one thing the relationships were for many decades. Over those decades, we talked many times about our family and heritage - memories, questions, answers.

The base of our relationships over those years has been the kernel of love. You will find it's heart on that old bridge which passes over a river, cutting through the earth for millenniums. As more water passed under it, the water became deeper, just like the love that bonds the family. Since America began, that river has deepened for many families as their relationships developed and ancestries were preserved. In the last century alone, the importance of the family has become much more pronounced in America. Important questions abound on disease inheritance, national bloodline inheritance, and family history. Sometimes, there is a concentration of ancestors in specific areas of this country or another country. We want to meet some of those people. We want to understand where we came from and be able to pass that information to our children and grand children.

I once sought a possible family link in Scotland to only discover that the Scottish clan where I may have had roots, consisted of murderers, thieves and robbers. Later I found that I was not related to them. That gave me a sigh of relief. Now I wish I had some connection like that to pre-American ancestors. We do have some photos 100+ years old to help and some information linking us to very early immigrants. Maybe that will lead me to another place on the other side of the ocean. That could give us some real connectivity with the past.

So after putting this reunion together, I am already planning the next one. We will have one at a historical site of the family rather a contemporary site and do it next year! It will be a learning and bonding experience for everyone.

If you would like to share your family reunion experiences and any advice you have to make excellent bonds within the family, please do so in the attached comment section. I would personally love to hear about your thoughts and experiences. I am sure my readers would as well.

My own advice? Listen to the flow of the water. Stand on that bridge and gaze into that water. Don't think it too difficult to see into the water nor that it is not valuable to capture what passes by. You won't be disappointed. Like my aunt said, "I love my family." It is our heritage, our blood, our past. Whatever happens there, it happens. Family is important to our children and our children's children. Embrace and protect your heritage. There may be skeletons in the closet but the reality is there, so do not divorce the family if there are dark kept secrets. Knowing empowers us to have good health and take measures assuming that we inherit the good and bad traits of our ancestors. Computer software is available to document and share knowledge. Old photos can be reproduced easily. Chances are that one family member knows how to use the software and to doctor old photographs and make them available to others.Sometimes we find relative information in newspapers. Other times, in relative's storage boxes.