Memorial Day is a great time for a Family Reunion.

I have an aunt who owns one of the historic homes outside of Vicksburg, Mississippi. We had a family reunion at her home several years ago. Now there are fewer of us to reunite, so my sister decided to do it again this year. My aunt was onboard, so we spent Saturday in Vicksburg.

This reunion was different. All of the kids are older, so part of the fun of the reunion was watching the next generation interact with each other. My son and my sister’s kids see each other quite a bit, but they do not see my cousins’ kids very often. I am still close to my cousins, but since we live in Texas and they live in Louisiana our kids just didn’t see that much of each other when they were growing up. It was great seeing them hang out together and enjoy each other. And Peggy got to spend time with Mike, which is always a good thing.

And, of course, us old folks had a great time visiting and rehashing old family stories and memories.

I love to watch my father interact with the rest of the family. He has become the patriarch of the family as the oldest surviving relative, and it is fun to hear his generation telling stories on each other from their youth. It is a highlight any time we get them all together. My father turned 80 this year, so it becomes more apparent each time we get together that we need to do it while we can. My sister lives in Vicksburg so she was the primary planner. She did a great job.

When the reunion was over, Peggy and I made the drive back down to Lake Charles to spend the holiday weekend. Her cup was full from our son’s presence at the reunion, so we just went down to hang out and relax. She will be heading back to Dallas to visit her mother this week, so I wanted her to have some real down time this weekend.

This is the easiest place for us to go for a quick weekend to get away. Peggy loves to come here, so I love to come here. Frankly, if she loved to go somewhere else that would quickly become my favorite place to go. I just want her to be able to have fun and recharge.

Now, back to the daily grind…