Reunion Weekend

I’m riding backseat on the way home from our weekend reunion. You’ve got to love the convenience of a laptop and a cell phone internet connection!

As we make our way back to Ozark, all of the others disperse to different areas of the country. This was the first time in a very long time that everyone has made it home for a gathering of the Jerry/Leticia Hill clan.

Theresa, Mike and Justin are on their way home to Oklahoma City with Jason returning to Florida tomorrow. My family just made a pit stop at Ted Drewes in St. Louis on our way home to Southwest Missouri. Steve, Laura and Austin are making the long trek home to Maryland (DC area). Mike, Christine, Andrew and the triplets (Tyler, Ben and Zach) should be at home in Bolingbrook IL by now. Mary, Chris, Amelia, Joe and Haley are probably back in their un-air conditioned home in Indianapolis. And Pat, Jeanna, Grace and Ryan are heading back to Norfolk VA after making the detour to Rockford IL to drop off Morgan and Amber for a few weeks. That will leave Mom and Dad to a much quieter home than it’s been in the past week and I think that all of us could use a good rest!

If you weren’t counting, it is six of us that are siblings, five spouses, seventeen grandkids and the two responsible for the family—30 all-in-all. I really do love my family. The kids (cousins) get along very well in spite of the fact that they rarely see each other. I know that all of the moms and dads are extremely proud of their kids (and they ought to be!). Our kids range in ages from 29 to 2 and interact remarkably well with each other. And although we do a fair job of keeping up with each other via e-mail updates, there isn’t anything like actually getting together.

We are separated by time zones, live in small towns and big cities, have diverse political views, go to different churches and have varying degrees of education. It is very apparent that we all love our kids a great deal. We love each other and each other’s kids, too.

“One big happy family” is the understatement of the century. Oh, we have our struggles and our stresses, to be sure. But they cannot diminish the feeling that I get when we are together.

To Mom and Dad, who will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary this fall: Well done!

John