Family Reunions

Marie5656 said:
Definately smaller. Not fewer family members, but more spread out that when we were young. Some of my cousins put together a reunion about 15 years ago. It worked out well. Furthest cousin came in from Hawaii to New York State
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definitely more spread out, and with Zoom now, even less reason for family members who are further afield to make the effort or time to visit in person... it has it's benefits but zoom also has its drawbacks
 
When I was a kid our family reunion drew well over 100 people each year.

IMO attending the family reunion was more of a duty/responsibility/obligation years ago.

The people that kept that notion alive have all passed on.

Today people seem to have opted for spending more time with immediate family and friends as opposed to relatives that they one see once or twice a year.

IMO it's not right or wrong just different.
 
We had large family reunions on my Mom's side of the family which was very large.We had them in the 80's and the 90's. When my Dad passed away in 1994 and 2 of my mothers sisters passed in the same year we stopped having the reunions.It was too hard to go on having them without the ones that were no longer with us.
 
applecruncher said:
They're smaller because fewer relatives are still alive.
Many who are living are in poor health.

We haven't had a family reunion for many decades.
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It's the same situation in my life. I am now the 'family elder' and only have one cousin left. When my aunts and uncles were alive, we would have huge gatherings, where everyone brought a dish to share, helped set up and clean up. These were all-day affairs and so much fun. I miss them.
 
My brother had a cousin reunion...1 year ago....We aren't doing it this year....
Anyway, I didn't remember most of the cousins, cause I was one of the oldest there...
My oldest cousin was in a wheel chair...All she did was eat...I think she is not right...
She didn't remember anyone's names....When I tried to tell her who I was...She called me
Sister!!!! That's gonna be me in a year or two.....Moma Mia!!!
 
Our gatherings are under 20 people, and isn't an annual or semi-annual event. Usually, it's after a wedding, when everyone's in town .. or when someone's visiting from the west coast.
 
We quit doing family reunions years ago. Mostly because the family fought. It was kinda humorous to us kids to watch the grown ups argue. Then we got packed up and taken home. Haven't had another since. Once we got together to see my dad's mom in the home but, I don't consider that a fam. reunion.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Are family reunions smaller than when were kid? Many years ago, my parents drove to LaGrange Ga every Christmas no matter where we lived at the time. When is or when was your designated family reunion date?
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Absolutely, positively, larger get-togethers when I was a kid compared to now.

I see two fundamentals at play regarding, the first being, so many of my older relatives are gone now (passed away), and the second being, compared to back in the day (1960's and 70's), family dynamics have changed exponentially. The closeness that so many of us remember from our pasts, no longer exits today, hence smaller get-togethers and even no get-togethers.
 
Pinky said:
Our family gatherings are lacking children. Gatherings of days-gone-by were filled with children. My daughter and all her cousins do not have children - and I don't see that this will change, considering their ages.
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Hi Pinky - I'm guessing that the younger adults are choosing not to have children? I think that I recently read something about declining birth rates world-wide. I'll have to look back into it. My nine year old neighbor boy told me two days ago that he isn't going to have kids!
 
Not much family left and way spread out.
We worked and lived oversea's the last 17 years and I am sad to say that we have not kept up with family.
It just kinda happened.
I do miss the huge family reunions and us kids being kids till we got into "trouble" for fighting or aggravating our Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc...
All the cooking the ladies would do and homemade Cranked ice cream.....
Progress....
 
gamboolman said:
Not much family left and way spread out.
We worked and lived oversea's the last 17 years and I am sad to say that we have not kept up with family.
It just kinda happened.
I do miss the huge family reunions and us kids being kids till we got into "trouble" for fighting or aggravating our Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc...
All the cooking the ladies would do and homemade Cranked ice cream.....
Progress....
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Sad that you don't have reunions, but those of your youth sounded wonderful! My aunts all baked the most amazing pastries... There was so much food and fun. Your post made me feel really nostalgic for the 'good old days.'
 
Aunt Marg said:
I believe we'll see a lot more of it.
Baby Boomer generation was born 1946-1964 during post-World War II. 76 Americans were born during this time. It was caused by young males returning home from following tours of duty overseas who began families.
Why the birth rate has decreased in USA? Millennial's are having children later and fewer of them leading the lowest birthrate since 1987.

In my opinion life, the world has a way of balancing itself over time. Baby Boomers are largely responsible for over population in the US and Canada while strangely US and Canada population is decreasing as Baby Boomer population decreases and new births decline.

Life is amazing
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Family scattered all over the country makes it tough. We did have a gathering last year in celebration of our 60th anniversary.
 
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