I was blessed growing up in a big extended family. My mom was one of eight children born to my farming grandparents. Each year since I can remember, the family has gotten together for a reunion during the summer. At the largest number, there were 50 of us including our grandparents. That’s a lot of people and a lot of fun.

We used to have reunions at my grandparents farm. To be honest, I don’t remember anything about them other than playing softball. We played in either the large front yard or the area between the barn and chicken coops, dodging chickens and their poop as we played. When we got bored, we could always go over the barn fence and see if we could coax the cow to come to us.

Our grandparents were both gone by the early 1980s but the aunts and uncles continued the tradition. Other than my mom, one of her brothers and one sister-in-law, every sibling and their spouses have lived to their late eighties or early nineties. The last of my uncles is still hanging in at 93 and still gets around, although he now walks with a cane.

I loved that farm. There is something in my internal makeup that draws me to a farm. When I was a patrol deputy, I often worked the zone in the northeast part of our county that was mostly rivers and farmland. Each time I left the city behind and was surrounded by farm fields, it felt as if my whole body sighed and relaxed. I used to wander for hours along the country roads, just taking in the peace and quiet.

We had our annual reunion this past Sunday which we now hold in a county park. All of the cousins are over fifty and some are over seventy. Of thirty-two cousins, we’ve only lost four of the cousins (two of whom come from my family) and four spouses. The number of cousins who attend the reunions has dwindled over the years, but we still had a good turnout and enjoyed good food and conversations.

The reunions are hosted by the families in chronological order by age of the siblings; Harvey, Kurt, Marlon, Francis, Lucile, Jeanette (my mom), Arlie and Carlton. Next year it’s my turn to host and there are two families after me. I’ve heard rumblings from some of my cousins that they want to discontinue the annual reunions, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this go-round might be the last. I’ll be sad as the last couple years I feel have been the best, maybe it’s because our children are all grown (and usually don’t attend) and we can spend our time together. We’re all getting old and I think we appreciate the family that we have left.