Is there anything quite as lovely as "anticipation"? Sometimes it's almost more wonderful that the actual event! How we hope the reality next week will be all we have anticipated. For 2 years now we have had a major reunion scheduled for our whole family. There are 55 of us gathering ...everyone except one missionary grandson. We've had other reunions. In fact we gather every 2 or 3 years for sure. We've even had reunions at this same special facility. The last one was 10 years ago. Needless to say, our family has grown in numbers and size in those 10 years. We'll all be together on one floor of a marvelous lodge...14 rooms and luckily, 14 bathrooms.
Meals and activities are provided for everyone and the area is so beautiful. For several hours most days, children share adventures in age-groups lead by counselors, while parents are free to interact with their brothers and sisters. Tennis, golf, swimming, lectures, evening programs, table games...all provided. Can it possibly be as wonderful as we all hope? What will it be like with that many people? Will the weather be decent? Will everyone be well? Will all travel safely? Whatever the weather, health, numbers or events, we will be together and we are grateful.
Our greatest joy is that our family WANTS to be together. Each committed 2 years ago and were thrilled to have the opportunity. Great sacrifice has gone into making it happen by each...summer plans changed, commitments rescheduled and airline tickets or gas purchased to make, in most cases, a long trip in a car packed with kids and belongings.
We've had 2 years of that glorious anticipation and next week it will be time for the reality. It's not that we never see each other. We gather as much as possible. Sunday evenings is a favorite gathering time. Cousins beg their parents to have the cousins over and they gather at one of the houses. Five of our nine children live in the same area, so whenever one of the families from other states comes for a vacation, everyone gathers. Sometimes, like Christmas and other holidays, the knowledge that one family is coming, entreats the others to come at the same time. Luckily, we have kept our family home and it is truly a place of gathering.
The days are passing quickly and there is much I'd like to do before we leave, but whether it gets done or not, next week we get to spend the whole week with all the people we hold most dear, our family!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Will Spring Ever Come?
It is June 6th, almost the 7th and it's rainy and gloomy outside. The whole week will be questionable. True, it's not snow and the fields are green. There are flowers and flowering trees all about which would make you think that spring is here. The weather just doesn't know if it wants to make the change.
There is something in the soul that yearns for spring, hopes for summer, clings to Fall and tolerates the last half of Winter. It's the long lingering of winter that is hard. The first few months are beautiful, a true fairyland. I really don't mind it at all. I've learned to negotiate slick, unplowed roads and sub zero temperatures as long as I can return to my cozy home, park in the garage and enjoy our fireplaces. Yes, It's beautiful in Rexburg in the winter. I love dressing in layers (the more covering the better at my age), and I really don't have to be outside much anyway.
What is hard are the months anticipating Spring with the hope of summer to follow. The calendar suggests that spring is coming. Every once in a while we get a day that convinces us maybe it's here, but then it slips back into the windy, cold, wet of pre Spring and the wait continues. It is Memorial Day before we can really plant our little bedding plants and we are lucky to get much of a harvest from our gardens, but it's all worth it, as the green fields stretch as far as the eye can see and flowers frame the streets and houses. Once the weather reaches the 60's, the parks are filled. People shed their coats and the spirit of spring fills the air.
I'm sure the anticipation of spring is really the yearning for summer, when people are outside as much as is humanly possible.
It's amazing how much we enjoy those months of true Spring and Summer and even Fall when we have to wait, anticipate and just get small glimpses of it. I know spring will come, and summer will follow. I have faith!
There is something in the soul that yearns for spring, hopes for summer, clings to Fall and tolerates the last half of Winter. It's the long lingering of winter that is hard. The first few months are beautiful, a true fairyland. I really don't mind it at all. I've learned to negotiate slick, unplowed roads and sub zero temperatures as long as I can return to my cozy home, park in the garage and enjoy our fireplaces. Yes, It's beautiful in Rexburg in the winter. I love dressing in layers (the more covering the better at my age), and I really don't have to be outside much anyway.
What is hard are the months anticipating Spring with the hope of summer to follow. The calendar suggests that spring is coming. Every once in a while we get a day that convinces us maybe it's here, but then it slips back into the windy, cold, wet of pre Spring and the wait continues. It is Memorial Day before we can really plant our little bedding plants and we are lucky to get much of a harvest from our gardens, but it's all worth it, as the green fields stretch as far as the eye can see and flowers frame the streets and houses. Once the weather reaches the 60's, the parks are filled. People shed their coats and the spirit of spring fills the air.
I'm sure the anticipation of spring is really the yearning for summer, when people are outside as much as is humanly possible.
It's amazing how much we enjoy those months of true Spring and Summer and even Fall when we have to wait, anticipate and just get small glimpses of it. I know spring will come, and summer will follow. I have faith!
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