I am not the biggest fan of the family reunion. It is nice to see some family members who you rarely get to talk to once a year at the good ol' reunion, but generally they are too much for me. At your typical reuinion, you're thrown into a world of vaguely familiar faces, truly bizarre pasta salads, and silly games that are supposed to promote "family unity."I am a person who likes to stick with the basics when it comes to who I "hang out" with. I have my close friends and immediate family (with some extended family members here and there) with whom I regularly associate. For me, that is just fine. I don't have time for a large social network anyway. But at a family reunion, you are expected to just be friends with people who are supposedly your family (whether you remember ever seen them before or not). Of course it's just like regular society, meaning there are cliques and different age groups associating with one another, so naturally you aren't going to be best buds with EVERYONE there. But there is that family thing that implies that ALL of us at the reunion are supposed to like each other and be able to at least talk a little and get along. That doesn't really work for me, I guess. I carefully cultivate my few friendships and am quite loyal to my friends and family, but I don't like the idea of acting like I care about almost-strangers for one day a year, just to appease. NO, I'm not a jerk...I just don't like THIS conversation, which thirves at family reunions:
(this takes place after the "so how are you related to me?" conversation, if needed)
Relative 1: "So, what are you up to?"
Relative 2: "Oh, you know. School and work. You?"
Relative 1: "Oh, the same thing."
(awkward silence)
Relative 2: "So..."
Relative 1: "Nice day today, huh?"
Relative 1: "Nice day today, huh?"
Multiply this by, like, 20, and there is a family reunion for you.
Naw, it's not REALLY that bad. But we did have 2 reunions in one day, which makes it twice as bad, you know? I do love my family, though...I just can't deal with a huge group of relatives wanting to make small talk, only to do the same thing at the NEXT reunion...
ANYWAY, it was nice because my mom and dad came down from AZ for the day of festivities. My dad even wore his kilt to his side of the family's reunion, since we are part Scottish. We ate food and visited and then some of us hiked up a hill to a place where we used to play as kids. It was very hot out that day, and so after that little excursion most of us were ready to go home and change and relax before the 2nd reunion.
Reunion #2 was not as nice as the first. It was for a much more extended family, and I knew almost nobody there. At least the other had family there that I saw more often and knew better. We also arrived pretty late, and only the most bizarre of food choices remained for dinner. You woudln't believe the kinds of things my relatives on that side come up with! And yes, most of them really do involve Jell-O.
That night and the next day was spent playing games and visiting with my immediate family, since my parents were only able to stay for a couple of days. It was lovely, though, while it lasted.
3 comments:
i agree. reunions are pointless. i have a policy against attending them. at least in principle... i remember that very soon after i met jeremy, he took me to idaho for his grandfather's birthday, and there were like a bajillion people there, and i was super intimidated and terrified and uncomfortable, and i asked if it was a reunion and he said no, this is just my family. now, i'd come from a family as an only child, with exactly two grandparents, one aunt, one uncle and four cousins. i had no conception of a family so big that a birthday party is like a reunion. so i say that i won't attend reunions, but in reality, when you marry someone with a gargantuan extended family, you end up attending some whether they're called that or not. :)
mmmmm,jell-o.....
I grew up attending family reunions every year - for my grandmother's family - There were people I did not know, but there were also people I learned a lot from and learned to really love. It was important to my grandmother and my mom for us to go - we did, we ate, we played, we sang, we had a blast. Who cares if I don't know everybody? Who needs an excuse for a picnic in the park on a beautiful day?
Although my family does not attend reunions anymore (yes they are still going on) - I still have great memories of them. When families move away from each other we lose touch with the day to day goings on in each other's lives. It's kind of embarrassing to have to be introduced to your first cousin. A reunion lets us reconnect. and I say that is a good thing! Blood has it's merits ; D.
Mom B.
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