By Lady RuNett (formerly known as Lady Gray), February 1, 2019 — My father had four brothers and two sisters and I knew all of them during my lifetime. My brothers and I have memories of all of them and we attended all of their funerals.
When the baby boy passed (at 80+), we said farewell to the last one of the uncles and aunts in that line. He had requested that we not have a funeral or memorial for him. What he told me was, “There are some in the family who might still be upset with me so I don’t want a pack of lies told at my funeral or memorial service.” That was my uncle keeping it real like he always did. We honored his wish but still felt we should do something in his memory; after all, he was the uncle who made us laugh.
One of my brothers decided we should have a Meet-N-Greet in honor of all of them (our dad, his sisters and brothers). It was not quite a family reunion since it was only a one-night event but it was an opportunity for family members to gather. We set the date for Saturday, September 1st. It was arranged for early evening so that anyone traveling a distance could still get there. I posted all the information on our family page on our family Facebook page and the confirmations started coming right away. Our theme for that evening was Honoring Generations Past and Connecting with the Generations present. By the time September 1st came, I was more excited than I thought I would be. I would finally meet some of my family that I had only connected with on social media and see other relatives that I had not seen in a really long time. A few short, funny family moments were shared as we reminisced about my dad and his brothers and sisters.
The night of the Meet-N-Greet was nice. My brother had arranged for a band to play Jazz and oldies. The food was really satisfying and we even had keepsakes to give away. As the people streamed in, they signed the guest book and there were hugs all around. We had relatives from Pittsburgh, PA, Atlanta, GA even from Milwaukee, WS. Everyone we didn’t know introduced themselves and some shared their connection on the family tree, while other relatives from Norristown showed us a poster where one of the elders had been working on a family tree for over a decade. Lots of photos were taken to commemorate the night and we even had some family friends in the midst.
When all was said and done, every one said they had a good time and I was pleased we made so many family connections. Now everyone is looking forward to a family reunion for next year or in 2020.