Cousins’ Reunion

Yes, I’m from the south and we have those things around here. The 31st annual cousins’ reunion is coming up soon and I’m so looking forward to it. These are the people I grew up with. Since I only have the one sister, cousins picked up the slack of not having a large family. So I have an extremely large family. Twenty-six first cousins on Daddy’s side.

About thirty-one years ago we realized that the focal point of the family wasn’t going to be with us much longer and we might all scatter and not see each other again soon. Unacceptable since they’d been such a big part of my life. I had a baby by then and the thoughts of him not knowing all these people was also unacceptable.

So, Sis, closest Cuz and I decided we’d have our own get together. The older generation was welcome but it was for us to get together and make sure our kids had the cousin experience. Sis volunteered her house because of the pool and large carport and we did it.  This is ’86 I believe with our kids, but just a sampling that grew.1986 reunion

And now, thirty-one years later – 31! we’re still doing it. We all already know the menu, it hasn’t changed in decades (no reason, we all like it) and fewer of the kids come because they have gone off to college or have families of their own, but they know when and where and that they’ll be more than welcome. And there are unfortunately fewer of the older generation to attend but we love it when they do.

There’s no agenda, we sit around on the carport or dip in the pool and visit with whoever is sitting next to us. We’re all family. We can ask questions about old stories we’re familiar with and compare them to reality and share pictures of the kids that aren’t there. If one of the “kids” does come and brings a friend they get the same family treatment and marvel that we all know each others’ names.

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6 thoughts on “Cousins’ Reunion

  1. Donna,
    What a wonderful reminder of what’s truly important in life. Love the pics…wow, do they bring back memories! Here’s to good old “country”/American values 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing these. Made me smile….

  2. Family reunions are very important to me. My father and my uncles could tell some wonderful stories, and as true southerns, they never really let the truth get in the way of a good story. Now my cousins and I repeat them with gusto and sometime the younger ones even listen. I hope you all have a great time.s

  3. WOW,Donna, that’s quite a group. Thanks for sharing. My family is so small, no way we could get that many people together.

    • It ebbs and flows with who can come. On a great year we have California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia and of course North Carolina. I think that’s what you saw in that last picture – LOL!

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