Those Kids Sure Grow When You're Not Lookin'

Yesterday was our Family Reunion. On my Mother's Side. So it was the 16th Annual Bergeron Family Reunion. My Mom had 7 children in her family, who had 25 children of their own, and at last count, there were 50 children in the next generation. And we've begun another generation after that. You do the math.

We've always had our reunion outdoors. For obvious reasons. Who would have all those people in their house? I've been lucky enough to get our local park for free every year. This year however, they were going to be doing construction so the scramble was on to find a new place.

We ended out at Pawtuckaway State Park. It was gorgeous. The weather was beautiful. And despite the chance in locale, we had a fantastic turnout. A rough estimate puts it at 65 people.

My sweet baby Emily was the youngest one there. She had a ball....she sang, she danced, she played on the slide. I'm pretty sure she's the youngest one in the family, but not for long. There's at least one baby coming along in the next year.

And the patriarch of the family is my Uncle Chanel. He'll be turning 82 this year. And going strong. He's the father of six, grandfather of 17 and great-grandfather of 2.

My own sweet Mom was there as well. She and Uncle Chanel are the only ones in their generation who are left. Mom has 4 children, 12 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

The thing that makes me the most happy is that the new generation is just as dedicated to family tradition as my generation is. My children all came, and many, many of my cousins' children come every year. And enjoy it. They enjoy seeing distant cousins and aunts and uncles and great-aunts and great-uncles that they see only once a year.

Gives me hope for the future, ya know?