Family Reunions

 I remember family reunions in Monticello, Indiana, usually held in July on or around Grandma Martha Griffith’s birthday. Many of my Aunts and Uncles had moved to Indiana in search of work. We’re not talking 20 or 30 people here; this reunion involved, on a normal year, over 100 people! Aunts, Uncles (more than 20 right there) and then there were the Wickers, the Wilsons, so many cousins you couldn’t remember all their names from year to year. But a few were special, the ones that stood out from the crowd for one reason or another.  

We always rented a covered pavilion, first at the Monticello City Park and later at the county park right on the banks of the Tippecanoe River…the river of “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too” fame. We’d begin by stopping at Grandma’s house on Bluff Street, overlooking the river. The anticipation and nervousness filled the air — not wanting to forget anyone’s name, yet knowing you were going to be part of a family, a huge family…you belonged.  Entering the house, the wonderful aroma from Grandma’s kitchen filled the air: Kentucky Wonder green beans, the devil being boiled out of them along with a suitable portion of fatback from a favored hog, pinto beans, and, perhaps, fried chicken. Ah, the aroma, well, it was “home,” all were welcome and we belonged.  

We all need a certain definite sense of belonging; without it life is not as rich as it can possibly be; family reunions in Indiana gave me that wonderful, warm, comfortable feeling that I was accepted without question, no identification required, without having to play any games or prove anything. The feeling was very warm and welcome…it is still felt today as I recall those wonderful times we spent together.  

At one of those great reunions, Grandma stands with Uncle Jerry, Aunts Katie,
Gertrude, Barbara, and Mae, with my Dad on the far right. The young man in
front is surely a second- or third-cousin I cannot identify.