FAMILY REUNIONS CAN HOLD HIDDEN TREASURES
I just returned home on Saturday, August 28, 2010 from a family reunion along with a vacation that lasted a month.
After sitting down, having a chance to relax and getting a chance to reflect on all that has transpired over the last month, I realized how truly blessed I am to have so much family.
We usually have a family reunion at least every other year and sometimes every year.
However, this year was by far one of the best family reunions our family has had in years due to a surprise that one of my uncles and I cooked up.
And…it was one of the best vacations that I have ever had.
The planned reunion lasted only 2 days but those 2 days were filled with a wealth of family members, different activities, laughter and tons of love.
On Saturday, July 31, 2010 our family celebrated with a picnic in the park where we enjoyed being in the presence of one another, got acquainted with new family members and reacquainted with others, shared stories, played family trivia and other games and had a royal good time.
On Sunday, August 1, 2010, the whole family attended the family Church where we enjoyed a beautiful service with lots of singing, inspirational music and such an overflow and outpouring of love until it was mesmerizing.
As the church we attended is one that the majority of our family has attended for many, many years, nearly every position in the church is filled by family members.
All but a couple of people in the choir are family members. All of the ushers are family members. All but 1 or 2 of the deacons/deaconesses are family members. All of the Sunday School Teachers are family members and the pews are filled with family members.
After church services the whole family went out to dinner where we continued to enjoy each others company, share stories and shared yet another meal.
I know by now you must be wondering…What was the surprise?
To set the stage and make a long story short, my uncle lives in the same state that I live in. However, I didn’t know exactly where he lived until about a year ago.
He’s elderly and lives alone. Earlier this year he had to have a pacemaker put in his chest. When he was released from the hospital I brought him home with me and my family to nurse him back to health and to make sure he got through all of his follow up appointments.
During this time we got to know each other better and became really good friends.
I knew about the family reunion and thought it would be a good idea for him to go back home to attend the reunion and to see the family as well.
So…I told him about the reunion and asked him if he wanted to attend. I also told him that I thought it would really be wonderful if we could surprise the family.
He was overjoyed and thought it was a great idea as well so he agreed and operation surprise the family was put into play.
He and my mother are siblings, are very close and they talk on the phone at least 2 to 3 times a week.
Of all the people to surprise, we really wanted to surprise her. So, we agreed that we knew it would be hard but he couldn’t tell her and that he would have to be very careful when talking to her so that he didn’t let anything slip.
So…we decided that we were going to attend the reunion but we weren’t going to tell anyone that we were coming except my daughter because we were going to be staying with her while we were there.
We set everything up through her.
As for me, I usually attend the family reunion at least every other year, however, my uncle who is 81 years old has not been traveling and had not attended a family reunion or been back to our hometown in over 20 years.
It wasn’t easy trying to keep it a secret as family members kept calling and asking if we were going to attend and we had to keep coming up with very creative answers for them to keep from telling them that we would be attending.
On Wednesday, July 28, 2010 one of my aunts called my uncle to remind him about the reunion and he acted as if he had forgotten about it. On Friday, July 30, 2010, one of my sisters called him to ask if he was going to attend. He told her he didn’t think he was going to attend.
After he told my sister that he didn’t think he was going to attend, she told him that she would call him the next day from the reunion.
We arrived in our hometown on Friday, July 30, 2010 around 1:00 pm. My daughter picked us up from the airport and we went to her home.
We had kept it such a secret until we hadn’t even told my granddaughter that we were coming and she was totally surprised when we showed up.
On Saturday, July 31, 2010 my sister called him on his cell phone from the reunion as she said she would.
He spoke to her, my mother and a couple of my aunts as if he were still at home. They all thought that he was still in our state and said they were sorry he couldn’t make it to the reunion this year.
We arrived at the park for the reunion about 15 minutes later and totally surprised everybody.
It was one of the most beautiful and touching experiences of my life.
We had sent my granddaughter ahead equipped with a camcorder so that she could arrive a few minutes before we were to arrive and record everything that was about to transpire.
We told her to make sure she had the video already going and to be standing close to my mother when we got there so that she could capture the look on my mother’s face and the whole thing.
We also told her that we would call her on her cell phone when we were almost there.
When we arrived we parked the car across and down the street a little from where the family was gathered with the car facing away from them.
My daughter got out of the car and went ahead while my uncle and I waited for a few minutes.
I then got out of the car wearing a big straw hat and sunglasses for a disguise and approached the family.
One of my brothers was putting up a net with his back turned to me and I walked right up on him. Everybody else was doing other things and not looking towards the area where I was.
When he turned around and saw me he was totally surprised and gave me a big bear hug and a kiss. Then he shouted to everybody, “Hey everybody, look who’s here!
When everyone else turned around, they yelled as they were just as surprised as he was. We all laughed, greeted one another and gave each other big hugs and kisses as well.
In the meantime I knew that my uncle was to be the true show stopper and was getting out of the car. So I tried to keep my family’s attention turned to me facing away from the direction that he would be coming so they would not see him until he was very close to them.
It worked. He had on his big straw hat and glasses and was almost all the way in the area where the majority of the family was before they knew he was there.
My brother (the same one I had surprised) spotted my uncle first. He was totally floored when he realized who my uncle was. At first all he could do was laugh and smile and said “Lord have mercy, is that who I think it is?”
Then he said, Oh Lord it sure is. It’s Uncle Chester! He then gave him a big bear hug.
He then yelled to the family. Hey everybody, look who else is here! Lord have mercy, its Uncle Chester!
When the family turned and saw him they were totally shocked, surprised and in disbelief. However, they were all very happy to see him and began to greet, hug, kiss and welcome him.
The more touching and heart fulfilling moments for me was when my mother realized that her brother who hadn’t been home in over 20 years was actually there.
He was standing right there in front of her and she was able to physically hold him and give him a big hug and a kiss, then she cried.
That scene brought tears to my eyes as I know how close they are, how much they love one another and what that moment meant to them.
I was so happy that my uncle and I we were able to make that precious moment happen and become a lasting memory.
You see, my uncle is our oldest living relative.
I hope that I will be able to attend many more family reunions. However, if I never get to attend another one, that family reunion will be the one that I will always treasure and hold dearly in my heart.
Regards,
Angela

