Reunions of the sibling variety

This is the sort of blog that no one wants to read unless you want to read about random strangers family reunions and no one wants to do that. So feel free to cough a little and turn the page.

A few months ago I realized that the last time all my siblings got together was August 19, 2016 to toss my Mom's ashes illegally off a cliff near Sonora, California. It was a  nice tossing ceremony (the park ranger politely looked the other way) and then we gathered for a dinner in a local Sonora restaurant and the best part was hanging out by the pool at the hotel in Sonora, listening to three of my brothers play soft music late into the night. Other hotel guests hung out with us and enjoyed the music as well. Some of my siblings went to Mass the next morning and were not enlivened by that experience.  My kids and their mates and me did not opt for that Sunday morning church thing. We had coffee and scones instead and we were quite happy with that choice.

Whew.... so, a few months ago I contacted my siblings to see if we could all find a time to get together and this past weekend was the favored date and so we did.  Jenn and Dar offered their house as the gathering and eating spot. Everyone came to Guerneville on Friday and/or Saturday and spent one or two nights and we had a great time. Some of us gathered at Autocamp (autocamp.com) on Friday because I got a good discount on trailers Airstream rooms and of course a discount makes everyone happy. People did their own Saturday morning activities and we all finally converged on Jenn's on Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and that meant the pool table was accessible and many games were played. Donna, my sister-in-law, played the first game of pool in her life!  My sister Kate and I played our first game together in our lives! (I hope Kate and Donna and I can play again, soon, and perhaps become pool sharks in our waning years, although are years are not waning quite yet.) A large wine bar was set up in the garage with a great deal of wine to sample, and sample we did. Jenn made two different kinds of lasagna, along with stellar garlic bread and salad. (The meal was preceded by lots of snacks, of course.)  Dessert followed, Lemon Shaker Pies (thanks to Joe and Donna) and chocolate cake and cookies and two pounds of See's Candy (thanks to Kate) and more wine.  

There was a bonfire. There was endless conversation and even more laughter and family memories. Joe, Jeff and John played music and Jenn sang along and people were happy and tipsy and smiling all the time. 

Everyone was back at Jenn and Dar's by 9:20 on Sunday morning for coffee and more food. (No one opted for a religious experience that morning.)  I had to go to work but it was with a smile on my face. As different as we all are, all six of us share one thing in common: we usually like each other. And we mostly love each other. Yes, we sometimes argue, we sometime disagree, we often go weeks or longer without talking. But we all get along, we are all there when needed. We would all have each other's back. 

And that is a good thing.

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