Inspired by this thread , I thought I’d take a poll of sorts.
Last weekend, I attended a family reunion of my father’s side of the family. The reunion is an annual event that my wife and I are currently responsibile for organizing (we elect officers for 3 year terms; we have 1 year left of our second term).
I enjoy visiting with family members I only see rarely because they live out of state, or have conflicting schedules, etc., but I also enjoy visiting with those I see more often.
Recently, it seems that since more of the older generation of this side of the family has passed on, the younger generation doesn’t have the same interest in keeping in touch with the family. This is sad to me because we already see one another less and less because of busy lives. I’d hate for the reunion to cease. My cousins who are close in age (31) to me don’t seem to care one way or the other.
Here’s the poll:
[ul]
[li]Do you attend family reunions?[/li][li]Do you enjoy them?[/li][li]Are your reunions planned events such as week vacations at a theme park?[/li][li]Or, are they just afternoon potlucks at a park or at a fmily member’s home?[/li][li]How long have you been attending the reunion?[/li][li]Would you be upset if the reunions stopped?[/li][/ul]
I’ll answer:
I attend most of my family reunions.
Yes.
Potlucks at a park/family member’s house.
Since I was born.
Yes.
[ul]
[li]Do you attend family reunions?[/li]Some. My mother’s family has them every 5 years. My father’s family does not – but several of them live closer together, and so see each other more often.
[li]Do you enjoy them?[/li]It’s a mixed bag. It’s nice to see some of them; others, I will never know very well. My wife hates them – she goes along just to be nice to me. I go, partly out of interest, and partly because it means a lot to my mother.
[li]Are your reunions planned events such as week vacations at a theme park?[/li][li]Or, are they just afternoon potlucks at a park or at a fmily member’s home?[/li]Usually a house or hotel room visit, along with an outside barbecue in a park.
[li]How long have you been attending the reunion?[/li]I’ve been to the only two they had; five years apart.
[li]Would you be upset if the reunions stopped?[/li]Not especially.
[/ul]
Do you attend family reunions?
Not if I can get out of them. Do you enjoy them?
No. Are your reunions planned events such as week vacations at a theme park?
No. Or, are they just afternoon potlucks at a park or at a fmily member’s home?
Bingo. How long have you been attending the reunion?
I think I’ve only managed to wrangle out of three in my adult life. Would you be upset if the reunions stopped?
Only if I seriously needed an organ transplant…
Do you attend family reunions?
yes, but only my father’s side has them
Do you enjoy them?
They are ok… They are mostly geared to children and older people. I don’t have kids, so I go primarily to please older relatives. It’s generally rather boring, but the food is good.
Are your reunions planned events such as week vacations at a theme park?
Or, are they just afternoon potlucks at a park or at a fmily member’s home?
it’s a picnic, at a family member’s home/shop, and it’s not really organized, it’s eld the same weekend every year, and people just kinda show up.
How long have you been attending the reunion?
since birth
Would you be upset if the reunions stopped?
probably, it wouldn’t be July without it.
We’ve had two events that could be considered family reunions, one in '93 and another in ‘97. Both were organized by one of my sisters and held at her home, the second was a catered affair for my parents’ golden anniversary. I come from a rather extended family that extends from one coast to the other and it’s virtually impossible to get all of us in one place - there’s always at least one missing. I’m one of the 16 who was at both. Mom has started showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s; I hope we have another reunion while she can still remember everyone.
We don’t have traditional reunions, they’re more of family trips with my parents, siblings, and the siblings children. These are every other year, with the planning responsibility rotating. They are very much enjoyed by all and we would feel bad if they stopped. The siblings are a bit spread out over the north east, from Baltimore to Rochester, NY, so the family vacations are generally the only times we all get together at the same time.
The more extended family tends to get together around the holidays, so there’s no reason for a specific reunion. The extended family is all within an easy drive from my parents house, none of them moved far away.
Yes.
Usually.
Kind of. They’re always in rural Nebraska, so they’re planned, but not at a vacation location.
I’ve been going since 1984. This year was the 80th annual reunion, even though we are now only having reunions every five years.
Yes, I like tradition, and this side of the family is very wide spread, so this is the only time I see some of them.
Yes, several each year - my mom’s family, my dad’s family and my MIL’s family.
Yes, we usually have a good time.
Mom’s - a weekend at a state park, Dad’s and MIL’s - afternoon potlucks
I’ve attended my family’s since birth, my wife’s since we started dating
Yes. Family ties mean alot to me. I especially enjoy listening to the elders share stories of their youth (even when it’s the same stories every year). It’s fun to ask them open ended questions and listen to their perspective.
Do you attend family reunions?
Yes, on my husband’s side as well as my side. (All four of our parents are deceased.) They are not regular yearly events, they happen when we decide to get organized, and all siblings can attend.
Do you enjoy them?
I enjoy both, but much prefer my side of the family.
Are your reunions planned events such as week vacations at a theme park?
Or, are they just afternoon potlucks at a park or at a fmily member’s home?
We are spread out all over the country. Some of us live in nice places and we plan around that. The reunions have to be well-planned in advance, and people have to fly/drive to get to them. It’s been a hotel in Laguna Beach,a rented yacht in the British Virgin Islands, a condo on Captiva Island in Florida, a condo in Vail, a hotel in Santa Fe etc.
How long have you been attending the reunion?
We first began planning them as late 20-something adults; we’re fifty-ish now.
Would you be upset if the reunions stopped?
I’d be more upset over my side being stopped, however it is very nice for all of our kids on both sides to see their cousins.
On my mother’s side, they hold an annual reunion. I think I was dragged to one once when I was about 5 years old.
Other than the fact that we are related by blood, I have absolutely nothing in common with any of those people. Wish them all well, but have no intention of ever seeing them again unless it is by some weirdass coincidence, and I probably wouldn’t even recognize any of them if they sat next to me on a plane for hours.
So count me in the no, never, nada, don’t care catagory.
We don’t have family reunions so the answer is no or N/A to all questions. I think it would be nice sometimes if we did.
I am from the North East. NJ to be exact. You should also ask what culture people are from. At the local park I see a lot of family reunions. Most are African-American with an an ocasional Latino or Asian family. I don’t think I have ever seen a white family reunion, at least not on that scale. Maybe a combination of region and culture.