"On A Family Bash"

A Shanks' family reunion has been planned for today.  Actually, I am refusing to call it a reunion.  I'm calling it a family bash.  Wouldn't you rather go to a bash than a reunion?  A local swimming pool has been reserved for the afternoon exclusively for the offspring of my own family and those of my two brothers.  The idea is that if the kids have fun then everyone has fun.  I think that is a basic formula for success in a family with children.

This has been in the making for more than a few months.  It was one of those "single thoughts" that began rolling around in my mind almost a year ago when I approached family members with the possibility of getting together during the summer of 2014.  It seemed the only time my family connects any more is at funerals, and I wanted that to change.   

My childhood memories and on into adulthood are filled with family times at my parent's country home.  Every birthday was celebrated with a "get-together;"  holidays meant the house was filled with people--my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews; summer always had outdoor fun with homemade ice cream.  There was food, an abundance of hearty, home-grown food created by women who knew how to cook. That changed when my mother's life was taken over by Alzheimer's, and she subsequently passed after a 10-year-long battle.  I don't think we ever intended to scatter, but we did.  She was the glue.  

Yesterday I was trying to recollect the last time we were all together. My children and the children of my two brothers grew up together, but it has been a while, a long while. 

The response to my grand plan has been overwhelmingly positive.  I think the lure of the swimming pool worked.  The grandgirls are excited over the prospect of getting acquainted with cousins they've not met before.  The little one's suggestion that "We'll pray before we eat, because that's what you do at reunions" will be heeded as well.  The sparkly grandgirl noted the comment she always hears at reunions is that of how much she has grown since she was last seen.  I need to remember not to do that.

Today is also a brother's birthday.  It seems fitting that we are having a "get-together" aka bash, even though the homemade ice cream will be missing.  I am thinking a Dairy Queen ice cream cake will fill the bill and run a close second as a favorite.

My son is preparing huge slabs of pork for pulled pork for sandwiches as we speak, and I have no doubt the daughters and granddaughters are continuing the tradition of preparing absolutely delicious potluck fare.  The weather is cooperating, and family members have made this day, this time, a priority. Can it get any better than this? 

A friend asked me if I was the matriarch.  "No," was my response.  "I just organized it.  Besides don't you have to be old to be one of those?"  The answer was that one only has to be 69.  Bingo!  I'm not sure what it means to be a matriarch, and I'm not taking that role on, but I am thrilled that my family is going to be together--and it's not at a funeral.  Fun times and good food, wonderful memories!