First one child came and I began to realize what love was about. It was one minute having no child and the next an utter sense of loss should she be taken away. That was 40 years ago.<\/p>\n
A couple of years later another came, then another, and another. A dozen years after that we brought in another, this by adoption, her at age nine.<\/p>\n
The five are now all married and with children of their own. Our grandchildren number 15, with another due this year. I call the number \u201cabstract,\u201d what with most of them scattered around the country. To ensure a regular connection, we hold family reunions.<\/p>\n
In earlier years this was at Christmas. But these became too big, and a bit complicated with all the events that season already involves. So it was Anne’s brainchild to hold a family gathering at a different time of year and at different places. It would be every two years, the date set long in advance to work for everyone. The costs would be shared.<\/p>\n
Right now we are in the throes of our second such reunion.<\/strong><\/p>\n The last was in Tahoe, California; this time we’re in Dana Point, in spacious, multi-floored accommodations owned and operated by a friend. The meal preparation duties are pre-organized and carried out by assigned families. Activities for the children are loosely planned . . . though much of it for them is the glee of being together, \u201ccousins\u201d being a special relationship that should be allowed to just happen.<\/p>\n For the evening meal the children are fed first, then settled in another room in front of some appropriate video. With a bit of respite from all the frenetic fun, the adults sit down for the pleasure of dining together. It’s all a way to keep up friendships, which is not something to be taken for granted, even in family (or, as is often the case, especially in family).<\/p>\n There’s one more thing that we do to enhance the quality. After the evening meal, each couple is given time to update the rest of us. This year it’s on three topics:<\/p>\n What of significance has been happening in the last two years?<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the best thing going on in your life right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n Something special about your spouse.<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s in response to this we learn meaningful things we’d not likely find out in any other way. Then, after each couple has shared, we provide a time for feedback, with plenty of admiration and affirmation. We’re each other’s fans.<\/p>\n It’s all about family. In many ways it’s only natural. It’s also purposeful. It wouldn’t happen without intention.<\/p>\n We’re all the richer for it.<\/p>\n Now, back to attending to it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A rope is made of many strands, its strength depends on many things . . . some natural, some purposed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7055"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10705,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7055\/revisions\/10705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}