This Old House

We hosted a family reunion this past weekend.

It was a lot of work but more importantly, a lot of fun. We took on the annual picnic that has been happening once a summer for almost 100 years. Over that many years, the families have grown so much, that everyone who attends now is mostly related to each other by their great grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, etc. It's the "Packard Picnic", but very few people who attend still have the name Packard.

Something that made this picnic very special was that it returned to the spot where it began all those years ago- to the Packard homestead. Our house.

Many of the people who came hadn't stepped inside the house for over 30 years. I loved seeing their expressions as they walked through room after room, seeing in their mind's eye what they remembered from so many years ago. They talked about large family gatherings and holidays in the room that's now our stove room, but used to be the dining room. They talked about the pantry, which is now the bathroom, and the sewing room, now our living room, which had a good couch for napping.

You could see that each person was experiencing a flood of memories. My only wish is that I could see it the way they remembered it.

The rain held off and we were able to hold the Picnic outside. It was the best weather we had in days. We ate delicious food, chatted and played games like Balloon Toss and Egg Toss.

As I sat in the cool shade, and listened to my relatives laughing and chatting, I couldn't help but feel our ancestors were smiling down upon us, glad that we had all come Home.