Family Reunion

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, July 1, 2007

This past Saturday saw Miss Debbie and me at the annual Matthews Family Reunion held in Stevenson, Alabama.  It had been a long time since I was able to attend one of these events.  Needless-to-say, it was a revelation.

First, let me say that my Momma was a Matthews; so that is how I am related.

Second, the very first Matthews Family Reunion I attended was in 1955, over half a century ago.  So many of the family who were present on that occasion were, of course, missing this year.

A half-century ago, we held the reunion at my Grandma Stell’s home in Bridgeport.  A wire-table frame and boards on saw-horses were stretched among the trees, and we ate outside in the heat and humidity.  This time we met at the North Alabama Electrical Co-op facility in Stevenson.  It was air conditioned, with comfortable chairs, and we ate at tables.

A half-century ago, my cousin, Wayne and I, ran and romped around our Grandma Stell’s yard with our other cousins playing everything from cowboys and Indians to tag.  This time Wayne and I, now grandfathers, watched an assortment of children run and romp around the tables enjoying the magic of being kids.  Wayne and I are not the oldest of our family by any means, but we now have solid reserved seats in the “elder” section!

As I surveyed the gathering, there were a number of my first cousins, children of my Momma’s sisters and brothers, who were there.  As best I could count there were seven of us present who were kids at that long ago reunion.  We had all matured, seasoned…grown older, yet, we were all the same.  We were family.

Wayne, who is never shy, sang three beautiful songs, despite the breathing apparatus he now must use.   In the middle of the third song, my youngest daughter, Valerie, telephone from Birmingham to tell me that although she was not able to be there, she was thinking about us.

The world is changing.  The pace and tenor of life is very different now for my children than it has been for me or was for my parents.  Likely, as we advance more and more into the post-modern age, family reunions will become a thing of the past.  People will become more compartmentalized and the notion of the value of family, extending beyond the nuclear or cell state, will diminish.  Too bad; their loss.

There is one thing that has NOT changed since that first reunion that I experienced long ago…the food.  If possible, I believe the food this year was better than ever.  That is hard to say for those great cooks of yesteryear were hard to beat.  Suffice it to say that no one has ever left a Matthews Family Reunion hungry!