So a few weeks ago, our family reunion made its annual appearance. But, this is not just any family reunion with grandmas and grandpas, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. This is a very, very extended family reunion with cousins, cousins and more cousins so many times removed that you're not quite sure how you're related without the expert guidance of your grandma or her sisters.
This is a reunion that you can set your watch to: always on Father's Day and always for lunch after church (more specifically at noon) at the Maxwell Social Club. It's been that way since 1954. How do I know this? I checked the family book. Yes, since 1954, my family has been keeping minutes of this family "meeting", recording births, deaths, marriages, etc., annually in this compiled book of photos and sometimes-typed and sometimes-handwritten minutes. This book gets passed around among the branches of the family from host family to host family each year without ever getting lost or misplacing pages. I sneaked a peek this year for this first time since I was in grade school, and sure enough, there it was, the announcement of my birth way back in 1972.
The procedure is to sign in at the registration table and fill out notices for births, deaths, adoptions, marriages, etc., which get recorded in the minutes for the year. Everyone wears a name tag with their first and last name and underneath that the name of their ancestor who started this whole crazy thing. In my case that would be my great-grandfather, Fritz
Germer, (this reunion was started by him and his seven siblings).
Since adolescence, I have resisted attending the reunion even when it is my family branch's turn to host. Something about being in a room full of mostly strangers who are relatives is something I just haven't appreciated. I didn't see the value in it, even though I enjoy genealogy.
Well, this year I got talked into attending by my aunts (actually it was more like
guilted into going). My mother's sister and sister-in-law came down from the Dallas area to attend this year and spent a couple of days visiting at my mother's house.
It was the first reunion since my uncle died in April, and it was very important to his wife that she attend this year. I decided that it was better to go and support my aunt during this time than to argue with all three of them (an argument I would surely lose).
Looking around at the 100+ people who were in attendance, I began to really miss my grandma. Sure, she's been gone for almost a decade now, but I still miss her company, especially on occasions such as this when she can explain the family relations to me in a way so that my eyes don't cross in confusion. These are her people, after all! It was always easy for her.
I did find some peace and comfort in seeing some of her closest friends (who also happen to be her relatives). They never fail to mention to me how much they still miss my grandma when they see me. In a way it made me feel closer to her even after all this time.
I hope my aunt had the same experience, feeling closer to her recently departed husband by spending time with his family. As they called out my uncle's name among the recently deceased family members being entered into the minutes, I saw my aunt lower her head in grief. My wish for her that day was to find some of the peace and comfort I felt surrounded by family.
Rose Marie and Leona
Two of Grandma's favorite ladies (and mine too)
