Family Reunions

This past week I headed out to a family reunion. It was the first time my dad's side has gotten together in over fifteen years. I think the last reunion was actually back in 1987, but I'm not sure.

So my family from out here in Pennsylvania headed west, and my dad's sister and her family headed east from Colorado. And my dad's brother just kinda stayed put with his family since we were headed to his place. And then we all got together.

I'll be honest. It was kinda awkward. I saw my uncle about five years ago, but I hadn't seen anybody else since my grandmother passed away 11 years ago. So I didn't know anything about anyone except for what they had sent in their Christmas letters. And I think that kinda hurt me. I'm not the most social person as it is, but it just seemed like the rest of the family was like familiar strangers. I knew their faces, but didn't know much about their lives. And I'm obviously not the kind of person who's going to go up to somebody and just start chatting them up. So we ended up keeping our friendly distances.

But I do want to make it clear that I like the family. They're good people. But they're different. They live different lives and they do things differently. They have a different sense of time as well as a different set of priorities. And I think that they may have played a role in the awkwardness.

I suppose that if I had spent more time with them, that I would have opened up a bit more. But I spent 32 hours in Des Moines, and I only saw the family for perhaps four or five hours. Perhaps next time, we'll have some more time and better opportunities.

So that's what I'm thinking on that.