Family Reunion

This weekend was my Grandma Lorimer's 90th birthday, and with it, the largest family reunion in 30 years.  It was solely immediate and immediate extended family (no 2nd cousins, etc).  I saw many of my cousins for the first time in about 5 years, several for the first time in 10 years, and one uncle whom I had never met at all!  It was very exciting and enjoyable.  The cousins have all become young adults, and are now connecting in much deeper ways than our previous years of playing in the backyard.  Our parents were all together again, for the first time in 30 years, talking and laughing, and happy to all be together. 

I love my family.  I love the heritage given to me.  It was commented that we are a noisy family.  Indeed, we may like to talk.  However, I noted that there was no shouting the entire time.  There were many opinions, for each member of the family carries first-born traits.  But there were no disagreements.  There was no arguing; there was no yelling.  There was no losing of temper, temperance, or propriety.  It was beautiful.  I am blessed with a wonderful family.

I love our spiritual heritage.  A love for Christ is a common element in our family.  We desire to love, serve, and learn more about God.

I know not what it is like to be the matriarch of such a family.  I cannot begin to imagine the thoughts and feelings of my grandmother.  She has reason to be proud.  She must have done something right.  Her children rise up, and call her blessed.

There is something strange and inexplicable about a family reunion.  Deep down, you know that somehow, this person that you hardly know has somehow, someway, made a part of who you are.

You are not quite sure how to interact, since the last time you talked with this person was over a half-decade past.  And yet, the traits of family allow you to talk and interact in a way that picks up right where you left off.  Even those whom you have never met share many traits and thought patterns with you, and you can communicate as though you're old friends.

I was very happy to meet my uncle whom I had never met.  I have heard so many stories.  I have prayed for him.  I know, that in some way, he is a part of my life.  He has influenced me, though we have never met.

The cousins have changed.  We are no longer children, innocent and carefree.  Now, we have each been faced with life.  Our ideals and whims have been challenged.  For several of us, we have tired of wild oats, and have returned to the strength and stability we knew in our home.  We have grown up, and we appreciate each other much more deeply.  We were children; we are now adults.  We were innocent and free; now we have faced the burdens and trials of life.  But we have become, in a much greater and deeper way, family.

Family is a mysterious, wonderful thing.  We are independent families, and yet, all one.  These have influenced me; they are my family.  Family is a tie that joins and often superceeds other ties.  We cannot explain how people whom we otherwise may never have chosen to hang out with are so close to us.  We do not understand how we can feel such a strong connection to someone we have never met.  We cannot comprehend the care and concern for those we have not seen in a decade.  Friends come, and friends go, and when you do not speak for years, you grow apart.  But there is something deeper and greater in family, a connection that years cannot fade nor destroy.  There is an invisible tie in spirit and soul, a mystery of God.  A mystery called family.

To my family, I love you all.  I appreciate you.  May God bless and keep you, and may He smile upon the descendants of Frank and Linda Lorimer.  May God bless my family.