 |
| Isleib family gathering, circa 1960 |
LUCY BURDETTE: So interesting that Ingrid invited us to contribute to a post on reunions during the same month that I was attending two! These were family reunions, one for my 90-year-old uncle, and one for John's 100 year old cousin (and yes, he has amazing genes.) I thought you might enjoy a little peek into my family's behavior during a get-together.
 |
| John and Lucy with birthday boy |
Uncle Don was my father's only brother, four years younger. They were devoted to each other – when my father was ailing, Don called every single day for several years running.
Years ago, when John and I were first married, he was attending his first extended family party with me, a 50th wedding anniversary for Don and his bride, Carol. John's family is absorbed (some might say obsessed) with sports. So he wanted to know what equipment to bring along for the weekend. Tennis rackets? Golf clubs? Ping-pong paddles? My cousin Steve responded: when you're with the Isleibs, all you need is a knife and fork.
This get together didn't let us down in the food department. The three daughters in law and their daughters cooked all the food – an amazing feast! (Here are my three cousins and Uncle Don in line.)
My cousin Tom, who you may remember from his appearance several years ago as our resident Limerick genius, is very interested in genealogy. He made this chart for his father.
But much to the dismay of my siblings and me, we were not on it. And I have to confess that we were not gracious about our absence, although he explained very reasonably that he didn't have room.
We felt compelled to follow up the next morning with a rejoinder.
Then there was a very clever quiz about my uncle's life – here's one of the questions:
2. What was the most disgusting food Don has eaten in his foreign travels, or at home?
a. Brains of a live monkey in Sumatra
b. Insect “paste” on unleavened bread in Cameroon
c. Fish with a parasitic worm in its flesh from Arthur Treacher’s Fish ‘n’ Chips in Lansing
d. Roasted goat’s eyeball in Zambia
And finally there came a wonderful game called where in the world is Don Isleib? And a gift exchange, for which we were asked to bring a gift related to some aspect of his life.
Here's the birthday boy, exhausted by his big weekend! So that's my family in a nutshell--food, clever wordplay, lots of laughing and teasing.
What would your family gathering be like?
How wonderful that you had two special family reunions to attend, Lucy . . . your family sounds marvelous and everyone looks so happy.
ReplyDeleteWe had a family get-together of sorts a couple of weeks ago when our Colorado daughter and her family and John and I all got together in Virginia at our youngest daughter’s house. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve all been in the same place at the same time, so it was a special treat to spend time with the girls and all the grandchildren. Being able to spend time with family is heavenly . . . .
So glad you had the chance for that reunion Joan! I bet your daughters and grandkids were in heaven too
DeleteThat sounds about like what my family get together would be like, too. Sounds like a great time.
ReplyDeleteIt was Mark thanks, though it all went by so quickly! Will have a lot of family in town this weekend too. The summer is going by in a blur
DeleteCan I be an honorary Isleib?! This sounds like SO MUCH FUN!
ReplyDeleteOf course you can! you already are an honorary family member:)
DeleteNeither Hallie nor I live that far away. We'd have come if you'd asked us xox
DeleteWhat Hallie said! The biggest family gatherings I've been at lately have been memorial services, alas. But when my immediate family gets together (sons, their girlfriends, my sisters), there are always board games and word games of all kinds. Plus charades, of course.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, we forgot the charades! that's always fun. And there is jockeying about who's on which team...brings out the super competitiveness of any group:)
DeleteMany years ago my grandmother organized a Thornton Family Reunion. It was actually the Briscoe family, but my grandmother didn't like her father, so she named the reunion after her mother's family. (Yes, there are a lot of stories about my grandmother.) Grandma had nearly a dozen surviving siblings at the time, most of whom I had never met. They all had children and grandchildren, and everyone had come down out of the hills to be there. My sister and my father took off with the genealogy forms to figure out who was related to whom, leaving my soon-to-be step-mother, my brother-in-law, and me sitting at our table, knowing nobody, and having limited skills at mixing with strangers. Mary Ellen and Packy got soon got tired of trying to explain how they were related to everyone else, so we decided to make up our own branch of the family. Before you knew it, we had amazing stories about an entire illegitimate limb of the family tree, descended from two brothers, Zeke and E.Z. Thornton, who took off for the California gold rush and spent some time as mountain men, scouting for Kit Carson. When I told my soon-to-be husband about the reunion, he was so delighted he dubbed four mismatched stems of crystal he'd bought on sale "the Thornton Family Crystal." My brother-in-law and I still come up with new Zeke and E.Z. stories from time to time. It's good to know your proud family heritage.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful Gigi--you were a storyteller right from the start. And I absolutely love the Thornton family crystal...
DeleteI love this story, Gigi. You could liven up anyone's family reunion:-)
DeleteYears from now children of the family will insist there was a mysterious part of the family that never showed up on the genealogy charts. LOL
DeleteLove the family crystal!
It would not be pretty. We would all be wearing flac vests near a large boxing ring. The females would enter for hair pulling matches. The husbands would stand aside with giant sized tissue boxes; providing for tears/ and or blood. Children would be seen, but not heard.
ReplyDeleteWe all love each other. We all know we can not be in the same space for more than 3 hours without a melt down. Knowing this, we live on separate corners of the US, and have virtual reunions. No sound/ no fury/ just love from a distance.
Good to see the Isleib's having fun.
Cora Lee! Sounds like your family has figured out the best way to handle a relationship LOL. We were lucky the only Kerfluffle was pitching a fit about the genealogy chart!
DeleteLucy, what a wonderful time! And Gigi and Coralee--always good to start my day off with laughter!! Gigi, that sounds like something my sisters and I would get up to--except everyone knows who we are--even strangers have been known to ask, "Are you Homer's daughters?" Um, yes, but please don't tell Dad where you saw us....
ReplyDeleteAt a family reunion there would be lots of food, lots of catching up, and lots of trying to herd cats, I mean kids--cousins, cousin's kids, cousin's kids' kids--into groups for photos--lots of hugs and reminiscing!
that sounds perfect Flora. Your father was actually named Homer? that's unusual these days...
DeleteYou can be a Thornton too, Flora, if you'll tell me where you and your sisters hang out. My sister lives in Kansas City now, and every once in a while she and I will give a nod to the old Muddy Waters song, and hold a "Crazy Little Women" reunion there.
DeleteRoberta, what a lovely recap of our weekend! I would love to know what Midori, Jeff's fiancé thought as she embarked on her first American trip, speaking very little English, and encountering 38 Isleib's! What a brave young woman! ;-)
ReplyDeleteBTW, the picture at the top of the two families in 1960 is a gem!
DeleteI can't imagine what she thought, coming from Japan with no English. She was lovely though
DeleteGreat pictures, Lucy. My family reunion would have a lot of board games and jokes. We'd start out friendly. At some point, someone would get mad and stomp off. Then there would be swearing and complaining. At the end of the day, we'd start drifting off because we just "need to go."
ReplyDeleteAnd there would be food. That is the only thing that would draw some of us to the event. =)
Mary/Liz
Figuring out when to take a break is definitely part of the art of handling a big family!
DeleteI grew up going to family reunions, and sadly or other wise, I am now the oldest member of that family still alive. Unless there are some distant cousins I don't remember.
ReplyDeleteMy own family is scattered, and I don't think we've all been together at the same table since my mothers 80th birthday, 20 years ago that was. I suppose I should correct that although right now there is a chism over the November election, 'nuff said.
Up here on the tundra, Julie's family gathers for all the big holidays. This year may be different. Since maybe 1960 everyone has gone up to a cousin's home on the Big Lake. That would be Ontario. This year there has been major flooding, months spent sandbagging just to preserve the foundation, never mind the beach, which has disappeared for probably a generation or two now. So I am not sure that the "ring of fire, illegal fireworks, omg don't burn the house down BBQ will happen on Tuesday. We haven't heard. That alone is not unusual. We usually get an e mail the day before saying bring the potato salad or some such.
It is quite a splendid event, got larger with the birth of each new Weidman, smaller as older ones passed on, grew again with the advent of boyfriends and girlfriends and school friends, smaller as the children grew up, went to college and now is getting bigger as the new graduates return home for a visit or to move back into their old rooms. Yeah, that happens people. Bad pennies and all that.
Whatever happens, I doubt shall go to the 4th of July picnic this year. Monday I am having a hernia repair, outpatient naturally, but I can't think I'll be feeling all that great the next day. I'm thinking it will be a good day to stay home with the dogs and binge watch whatever Britbox or Acorn has to offer. And read of course. That's a given.
Two rules:
Rule 1: Don't get pneumonia
Rule 2: If you get pneumonia, don't cough so much you blow a gasket.
Happy Independence Day my friends.
Are any of the Reds Canadian? Happy Canada Day!
Ann in Rochester who feels like John Hurt in "Alien", with something gnawing its way out of my belly. Hope its a girl
I hope your surgery goes well, Finta, and you enjoy your day of Britbox and reading. I don't know about you, but I considered it a rite of passage the first time I was asked to contribute deviled eggs to a family feast. Only adult women prepared food. I had clearly graduated from the kids' table.
DeleteGigi, that explains why two of my daughters are always to eager to cook something!
DeleteAnn, good luck on your surgery. If it's a girl, I'm sure we'll find out about it on the national news.
Southern Canadian grew up about 100 miles South of the US/Canada border in WA.
DeleteWill light a candle for you on Monday.. hopefully not a birthday candle for the neo babe.
Ann, sending good thoughts for your surgery!
DeleteGood luck with the surgery Ann, and definitely don't overdo it! You don't want to go back in for another round…
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI hope the surgery goes smoothly, Ann, and you're waited on hand and foot!
DeleteHappy Canada Day!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, Lucy, I'd love to have such a family reunion. But all my parents' generation on both sides are gone, except for one aunt by marriage. Two of my six cousins on my mom's side are gone as well.
Our families have shrunk. My mom had three siblings, my dad had seven. But they only had my brother and me, and we each had one daughter. My niece has two kids, my daughter only one. I would love for us all to get together, especially as my brother is having some health issues. We'd cook and talk and talk and talk, and play board games, chase the baby, and my brother and I would assuredly make my dad's famous margaritas. Unfortunately we're very scattered. My brother and sis-in-law in Hobart, Tasmania, my niece and her family all in California, so we will have to our get together by Skype.
Debs! I think you should have your reunion in Tasmania. And I would like to come too if you don't mind...
DeleteRoberta, your family looks like so much fun! As opposed to mine, which puts the "fun" in "dysfunctional".
ReplyDeleteWe just had a reunion of my mother's family a couple weeks ago, the first in 26 years. I was skeptical that anyone would show up, since the cousins doing the invitations had made some unusual choices: hand-written invites (by the lefthanded cousin, and not very legible), one per "family". So I received one, but not my three adult daughters; apparently, I was meant to share with them, except I couldn't read that part.
However, we ended up having a fairly good showing for such a slapdash affair, and now have a start towards organizing the next one. And of my 43 first cousins, the two who have always been my favorites were there, and we got to spend a lot of time together. Bonus: nobody got into a fight, or even a spat, and the food was amazing.
My mother, at age 87, is the oldest living member of the family. She was the middle child of nine, and is one of only four still alive. She's also one of only two without dementia. Knock wood.
Yes knock wood you got her genes. So glad you managed your get together without any major spats
DeleteOh! I want to be in your family, Roberta! That sounds fabulous. On one side of my family, we would just be competitive. On the other side of my family, well, we would just be competitive. And I don't mean charades. :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL Hank – it's hard to imagine you came out of that family! You are definitely competitive but very very nice about it and that's a great combination
DeleteTo: Hank. I need to pick your brain about growing up in IN in your first decade. Research for a MG novel which takes place in 1958-59 in Fort Wayne IN. This was a fun blog post, Lucy!
DeleteMy mom and I ordered the t-shirts for this year's gathering just this week, and word is that some of the nieces and nephews are working on their badminton game! The treasure hunt is still in the planning phases, as is the menu. My only wish for this year's reunion is cooler weather than last year and no rain!
ReplyDeleteA treasure hunt! That sounds like fun Ingrid, as do the T-shirts. Is someone artistic in your family?
DeleteTwo of my sisters are especially artistic and have drawn some of the t-shirt designs, but we also use www.customink.com, which I highly recommend. I'm not being compensated for that plug; they really are the best!
DeleteSo many fun family stories! My family of birth wasn't very close. (I started to call us dysfunctional, but even that seemed like aggrandizement. We just weren't close.) My husband, on the other hand is one of eight children. His family has been a delight to marry into. His father was an only child, but his mother was one of three. Now at 89 she is the only surviving member of her generation, including spouses. So not only her own eight children but her eight nieces and nephews as well tend to revere her.
ReplyDeleteThat side of the family used to have a reunion every few years, but for about five years now, we've been having a reunion each summer. There's just such an acute awareness that she is the last one standing and that we don't know how long we will have her. So the 2017 version is coming up the weekend of July 7, here in my fair city of Columbus, Ohio. They are a loud, lively, hard drinking, wisecracking group. Feelings sometimes get hurt in the banter, but fortunately no one holds a grudge. I'm really looking forward to it, even though I know there will be significant moments of pain-in-the-keister. One thing I know: it won't be boring!
That's wonderful to be treasuring your mother while she's around. Our second family reunion, for John's 100-year-old cousin, was also in Columbus. It's a terrific city! We walked all around the river district and then had lunch in Germantown. I was very impressed with your city! Have a great time
DeleteGreat summary, Lucy! Hallie, please do join us!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful, Roberta! I love the gatherings you shared. We're off to a week long reunion on the Hub's side in July (we do this every 3 years - although election fall out has caused some family members to refuse this year - first time ever) and my family is more sporadic since they're all in New England, I warn them when I'm coming and we cram in a day of eating and chatting around holidays, birthdays, etc at least once a year.
ReplyDelete