Family Reunions!

Sunday we drove the short distance to Lake Mineral Wells State Park for the Whitfield Family Reunion! The patriarch of the family is Anthony, pictured on the left with his ever present mug! He has coordinated this reunion for the past 5 years or so. His mother, my Aunt Alice, is in the photo with my mother and me.

We take 'Family' for granted all too often! I have been thinking about this and am so grateful to Anthony for seeing that we have a gathering every year and not wait as so many do for a funeral! I know weddings are oftentimes big gatherings but not as much as funerals are, in my experience!
People KNOW you at a reunion.....at least they know you are related in some way. I have to admit I did not know every one's name or even WHO they were and our relationship.....but I intend to change that!  Reunions are great places to show off your babies and grand babies and to see how the kids of years past are now the parents in charge of present day!

Speaking of showing off grand babies! This is my sister, Deanie, holding MY newest in her cute floppy pink hat! The other baby is 'Katy Love' my brother and sister in law's first grandchild! She was a preemie but you sure can't tell it now!

My brother, Lonnie, is 'Poppy'....a devoted granddad if I ever saw one! There are so many clever names for grandparents these days! Our newest will be calling Louis Dean 'Chief'....

.....and I will be 'Bella'! I am already a MiMi to 3 grands and Louis Dean has always been called Granddad by his family. Sometimes we like to try new traditions.....we will see if the names stick in the future! My daughter, Amber, and my son, Benjamin, are the ONLY two in our rather large extended family who call my mother 'Grandma'. She is called Granny to ALL the other grandchildren including my oldest two and also by nearly everyone  addressing her! Amber says her preferred choice of names for HER children to call us will be simply 'Grandma and Granddad.'

My sister, Nita, and a cousin......see I STILL do not know all the names!

Lonnie (my brother) and Summer and Sabrina.......all enjoying themselves!

'Mummers' and her little one....

Thank you, Cousin, for having the vision and doing the work in getting us all together once a year. And I BIG thank you goes to his daughter, Toni Sue! I actually suspect that SHE is the wheel that keeps this reunion in motion! If YOU have a family, I hope you will make every effort to stay connected! We ALL need one another!

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future. We make discoveries about ourselves."

Gail Lumet Buckley