Family Reunion - aka Nana's Happy Day

When I was young, every holiday was spent with family (both immediate and extended). Christmas would start in Mansfield, and then move to my Uncle's in North Attleboro. All the kids were there and we played in the basement with whatever toy we brought along or received that day. This was my Mom's side of the family, which is not very big compared to my Dad's family - but it was family and we had a good time. In the 80's my Grandfather passed away and my Uncle moved down to South Carolina with part of his family. Since then we have all grown-up and see each other less and less.

This past year brought my Grandmother's 90th birthday. She is getting old and her memory is fading you can see it everyday, for those of us who see her often it's hard to watch, but we're grateful the have the time to be there with her. Being semi-dramatic (as I think most Elderly people are) she is aways asking if we think she'll see her family before she dies. Because of this we thought it would be nice to try to bring as many people together for her as possible.

Yesterday we had a Family Reunion.

This reunion brought together all her Great Grandchildren, spanning in age from 22 to 8 months. Nana was introduced to Jackson Donato, my cousin Patrick's son and got to see her oldest Great Grandchild, Brian, who she hasn't seen since the end of his Basic Training for the Military. The reunion also, brought my cousin Amy, her fiance Sam and Megan her daughter all the way from South Carolina. My Brother Sean and his wife Tiffany joined us from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, making this the first time they met Loki, my daughter since her birth last December.

For some of the kids, it was their first introduction to their extended family for others it was a chance to see how people have grown and changed. Though everyone couldn't be there, Nana was blessed to see Christopher, my cousin who lives in San Diego just a few weeks prior to the reunion, and received a phone call from my cousin Ed a few days before checking in on her and wishing her well. My Mom called me this afternoon, telling me that Nana has mentioned several times how wonderful it was to have so much of her family with her yesterday. My Mom has already started to pull together a scrapbook for her, something we can look at with her often and help her not to forget how much love she has around her.

Highlights of the day were kick ball the Family vs. The Out-Laws. The Family winning 10 to 8, even with Sean great couching skills; Morgan painting faces for the kids; Toni and Brian hanging in the sandbox with the kids; the beautiful family photograph Patrick & Sara gave Nana from their wedding; Lego Mini-Figure building with Mike and the power point presentation that brought back so many memories.