Family Reunions Don't Just Happen at Funerals
If you’ve begun to spell family reunions F-U-N-E-R-A-L-S, you have lots of people keeping you company. More than likely, you used to spell it differently using words like G-R-A-D-U-A-T-I-O-N-S or W-E-D-D-I-N-G-S. Unfortunately, as people age, so do all of the people around them. Family celebrations become fewer and are spaced out with longer amounts of time in between them. No one seems to be getting married anymore, and few people, if any, invite all of the family to celebrate when they go through a divorce. Family reunions just seem to fade away as pleasant memories until all of a sudden, you start spelling family reunions F-U-N-E-R-A-L-S.
While it is nice to see everyone again and compare your physical changes with that of everyone else your age, it isn’t exactly the type of family reunion that has you returning home with a smile or a deep sense of satisfaction. Instead, you go home with a heavy sense of melancholy hanging about you like the bubonic plague. Instead of reveling in life as it is now, you find yourself bemoaning the fact that you truly miss the original “family reunions” as well as all of the relatives who used to attend them.
What can you do about it? You certainly can’t bring the dead back to life. Nonetheless, you don’t have to suffer in silence. F-U-N-E-R-A-L-S doesn’t have to be the way you spell all future family reunions. The problem is that it is difficult to find the time to make a family reunion happen – except at funerals. Guess what though? No one actually plans funeral reunions. It just sort of happens. So why not take a page from that book and just sort of plan a real reunion, one in which everyone there is supposed to be alive? Sure, some of your relatives won’t be able to make it, but what about the ones who can? It will be a fun time, and more importantly, it sets the precedent that gets everyone acting on those comments that people make at funerals.
How to Make the Next Family Reunion Happen Anywhere but a Funeral Home
Instead of waiting for the next funeral, contact family members via email, if you have the addresses you need, or phone if you don’t. Ask these questions and keep tallies so you can plan your next “real” family reunion:
- - Do you prefer once a month or once a year for a family reunion? (Once a month leads to fewer guests attending, but at least everyone has lots of opportunity to get together with family.)
- - Where should we meet? (Options might include a relative’s home, a public park, a bowling alley, a campground, or the beach.)
- - Are you willing to help plan a reunion?
- - Do you have contact information for these people (a list of the relatives for whom you don’t have any emails or phone numbers.)
Using the information as a guideline, just start planning a reunion. Instead of saying, “We have to start getting together before the next funeral,” you’ll be saying, “We’re having a family reunion next month. I hope to see you there!”
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