On Friday afternoon, I started hanging out with family from all over the U.S. My grandfather’s descendants (and those of his three siblings) have been meeting back where they grew up every five years since 1980. That is until 2020, when we decided to postpone it for a year because of the pandemic. Then, when it was still raging in 2021 we decided to postpone it again.
We decided to go ahead with our family reunion this summer, which happened to coincide with my grandpa’s 95th birthday. He was the youngest child in his family, and his siblings have passed away, but this weekend at least some of all of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren came to Iowa from several other states (Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, California, and Oregon…maybe one or two others…).
We reconnected, sang songs, visited some ancestors’ graves, told lots of stories, played ping pong, learned some history, shared our talents, and ate SO much food, among other things. Was it wise to meet? Probably not the wisest thing, no. Especially now that monkeypox is apparently a national health crisis too (because we need another one of those right now). But we did it, and even though I wore a mask all weekend, and still tried to take precautions, it felt so good to be around these people I’ve known all my life, but maybe only ever see at these reunions.
Even just meeting every five years, and occasionally seeing their life updates on social media in the last ten years or so, I feel close to many of them because we have a shared history. Many of us share genes as well. And it’s so special to be able to gather in the same place our ancestors have lived and worked for over a hundred years.
I recognize that before this land was acquired by my family all those years ago, it was inhabited by Native Americans. I have complicated feelings about that, and I don’t know what to do about them. But I do know that the descendants I reconnect with every five years turned out to be kind, generous, and thoughtful. And they’re interested in coming to Iowa from their homes around the country to gather with those of us who still live here and talk about those who came before us. That’s a special thing. I’m grateful to be part of this family, and I’ve just been soaking it in while I can.
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