By Rick Houser-
With the arrival of summer comes the arrival of events that will only happen in the warm weather. Of course I go on about the flowers blooming and the gardens growing and the farmer’s crops springing forth from the earth. Along with the long days of sunlight and not having to hear the furnace running, there is a major event that I hope is still happening for most of you.
That would be the good old family reunions. As long as I have been on this planet, and many would say that is a long time, there has been a reunion to attend. As a matter of fact I attended one on June 23 for my Mom’s side of the family. The Benton reunion was a good time to gather and reunite with our relatives for at least once when it wasn’t due to a funeral or some sort of tragedy. Also, since it was being held on my birthday I just kind of accepted it as a big party for me.
As far as I know there have been these reunions for as long as we have been a country. Yes, the Benton family is an old name if you go back down into Morgan County, Ky. where my Mom’s ancestors originated. This is kind of nice to know that we come from that but it might be even nicer that we just like to gather and eat some good food and share some good memories and some good stories that will likely be brought up again at the next reunion.
Coming up next for me is a family gathering on my Dad’s side of the family. I’m not certain it can be called a reunion but since it is a huge gathering of what family I have on that side I am going to refer to it as a reunion. You see way back before my time there was a Houser family reunion every Fourth of July. Since my Grandpa Houser and a brother of his were both born on the Fourth of July, it was decided that would be the date for the family reunion. So down on Fruit Ridge the day came to a halt and all the farming and whatever work a person did was set aside and family was put first.
The formula for a family reunion runs about the same for all of them. You gather your family together in a place where lots of food can be served and where there is plenty of room to mingle and get the chance to soak up as much about your family as you can. I feel that a person tries to absorb as much new information from your relatives as you can until the next year’s gathering.
On Fourth of July weekend I attended a family gathering as close to the grand ones from the 50’s and 60’s as I could remember. The only difference was that the Bentons started early and ended by supper time. The Housers started near noon and ended when the last person felt they couldn’t stay awake any longer.
There was a pause in the reunions on my Dad’s side when my Grandpa died. He was the Fourth of July birthday and his passing signaled the pause. That went on awhile but the desire for a gathering is just too strong to ignore, and the reunion would return. This was also true on my Mom’s side. It seemed when Mom and her siblings passed on we stopped meeting. After a few years, the grandchildren of the family called it back on.
These two families aren’t the exception to reuniting kinship. This in one way or another happens in almost all families. In my way of thinking, that is a good thing. Families get to reconnect and stay in touch if they so desire. Family is one of the most treasured possessions a person can have. Knowing that I have another person who knows other relatives, locations, and background they all came from is comforting.
These days when I think about a reunion I immediately look back to the early ones, I guess because it seemed there was so much emphasis placed on this one event that it would undoubtedly stick in my mind. As the years have passed so have the ways I have recalled these events. They were held at different locations and sometimes the weather didn’t cooperate, but still the reunion went on. Once a reunion is set and scheduled, there is in no way one can be stopped. That signifies a strong link to family. Those gatherings at the time may not have felt so important but as time passes, we find that they truly are.
It is safe to say that I have always been a people person. More than just people is where the relatives come into play. I don’t just want to know who lives in my neighborhood but I really want to know who is my kin and where they live and what they do. Yes, there are some folks that just don’t want to invest their time into the family they came from but for the bulk of us we are curious to know just who we are connected to.
These days it is more difficult to keep the reunions going because we all have so many things on our calendars. It takes a lot of work and time to put a reunion together and these days that can be tough to do. With all of this said, it is easy to say that I’m not very good on the planning but contact me about the the day and the time and I will be in attendance as I don’t want to miss one more chance to gather with my family and enjoy sharing all our stories and memories. We owe it to ourselves to learn who we are and where we came from. So if we are related, I hope to see you next summer at a reunion.
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. If you wish to read more of his writing he has two books for sale on amazon. You can reach him at [email protected].
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