Jessica Alfieri
writes everything you see here.
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Reuniting (and other stuff)
So, as I mentioned, we’re heading out to the Big Family Reunion this weekend. Eric’s mother’s mother’s side of the family all gets together from far flung places for a wild weekend of mayhem card games. (I kid.) There’s horseback riding, and boat …stuff?, and a Big Fun Softball Game, and I guess lots of other things, with about seventy people, all kinda sorta related.
But I’ve never been to a family reunion. Not ever. The closest thing I’ve experienced, scenery-wise, is probably camp. And that wasn’t even sleep-away. (Did I ever do sleep-away? I don’t have the greatest memory of Childhood Things: anything I remember is really just conjecture based on photos; if there’s no photo, there’s no memory.)
When I was a kid, most of my extended family lived within thirty miles. (That’s what the Tri-State Area will do for you.) So we got together, like, monthly, if not weekly. My grandmother regularly served “casual” twelve- to fifteen-person Sunday dinners.
And the bigger gatherings, with extended extended family folks, were a few times a year. When people got married, had their kids christened (or Penance-d or First Holy Communion-ed), or somebody threw a baby shower, or a great uncle retired, we all got together in some big hall, the walls of which were often covered in faux wood. Some of my favorite parties were held at these VFW-type places.
Last year, Eric and I attempted to attend the Big Family Reunion, but were thwarted by Northwest Airlines and the Memphis airport, who were responsible for our connecting flight. I’m hoping that the actual reunion is more fun than flying from Newark to Memphis and waiting for seven hours before returning from Memphis to Newark. It was a strange sensation to be back in our bed the same night we left.
Anyway, I’m eager to see what all this reuniting is about. All I know about this group - all I really know, like I know my name is Jessica - is that they really like taking group photos. This group and that group; and now with just this generation; now just that line of the family; now let’s add the grandkids. Snap. Snap. Snap. I’ve been told the permutations are ENDLESS.
It’s reportedly also a disorganized endeavor, with more than one person snapping at once, often catching two people in the same group looking at separate cameras.
Also. There’s an in-laws photo, and I’m a new in-law. And that right there is some added attention that I do. not. want.
So what’s my plan? Hide behind my big-ass camera and take the best reunion photos they ever did see. I doubt I will avoid the in-laws photo, but it won’t be for lack of trying.
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