No one likes to cook anymore, so our recent family reunion was held as a local restaurant. I didn’t mind, however, since any meal for which I don’t have to cook or cleanup after is a good meal.

Our family reunions help us stay in-touch with our relatives. As a child growing up, I fondly remember them, especially around Christmastime, as a chance to see our aunts, uncles, and cousins. Back then, we gathered at someone’s house and shared a potluck dinner.

Meeting at a restaurant is a small sacrifice we make today since our extended family now includes so many more people now that our relatives’ have grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I’ve lost track of how many family reunions we’ve held, several dozen I suppose. Each one, however, is a new adventure of its own. This reunion drew a record crowd.

The last several family reunion events have been organized by my Uncle Carl. He lives in New York and likes to visit his roots annually.

Getting together to share a meal and catch up with family matters is very satisfying and rewarding. Sometimes we just talk among ourselves, and other times we have shared pictures and group memories.

Even though we don’t always have a theme for our gatherings, my Uncle Carl decided to honor his brother Jim this year. Jim died twelve years ago. He was the first person on that side of my family to pass away since grandma died many years ago.

We all miss Uncle Jim. He was the “baby boy” when he was growing up. No one expected him to be the first one to pass on.

Jim was the “happy-go-lucky” type of individual. He never seemed to worry or become upset about much. He was able to laugh off his troubles and ignore with a grin anyone who tried to get him upset.

The good thing about regular family reunions is that the people who attend eventually develop their own family history just from being there. It was nice to learn a little more about Uncle Jim from all the stories being told about him at our reunion.

Life pretty much takes care of itself, no matter how much we worry or become upset. Uncle Jim knew and lived his life that way.

For me, sharing a good meal that someone else cooked and stories about Uncle Jim was a powerful lesson to be learned about our family legacy.

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