Do you have family reunions?

United States
January 20, 2007 12:23pm CST
My family gets together twice a year, usually 50 - 100 of us. We have traditional meals that we share -- corned beef and cabbage cause we are Irish, and we try to recreate some of my Mom's recipes, we play Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and have a talent show. How often do you get together, what types of foods do you eat, what activities do you have? Do you always meet at the same place or move around. Who pays for everything? Does one person do all the planning or is the load shared?
10 people like this
97 responses
@UcoksBaBa (800)
• Indonesia
20 Jan 07
our family meet every one year once, that in the Holy Idhul fitri,we have a big famiy and if we are in meet we mas playing a card to fun, wee eat so much food like satay,beef rendang, ketupat sayur and et cetera, so happy can meet with our family we can tell to him about plan in every year what must be we do.
2 people like this
• India
20 Jan 07
Yeah we do have family reunions.Especially during festivals like pongal.We fly kites which is great fun.Holy is another festival when we have get together and even diwali.Apart from the festive season we have get togethers just for fun and relaxation.
• United States
21 Jan 07
My mom's family has been having a family reunion every year since the late 60s (I think). Last year was the first year they didn't have one. At least I think the didn't have one. I never got an invite. The reunion was always the 3rd Sunday in August and I looked forward to it each year when I was a kid. We would drive the 4 hours up to Michigan and stay with my aunt for the week. We always played softball which was a riot to watch. But my aunts and uncles are all getting older and none of my cousins have really stepped up to plan it. My one cousin was doing it but they are busy with their own lives, too. I was really sad they didn't have one last year because I was looking forward to showing off our new baby. I have missed 2 in my entire life--last year and once when I was 20 or 21 because I had to work. I hope to make it a tradition for my children to gather once a year like my mom's family did. I also hope my cousins keep up the other reunion that my children will still go to.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
Please call your family and ask. Maybe your invite got lost, maybe they didn't have one because they thought there was no interest, or maybe it was becoming too much for one or two people to handle. If you let them know you still want to have them and maybe offer to help, they will start up again. I know people always tell me they don't live in the town where the reunion is being held so they can't help. But with the internet and so many phone companies offering free long distance, I can and do put everyone who offers to work in the planning stages regardless of where they live. And the day of the reunion I use the out of towners to help with the last minute shopping trips, supervising kids activities, etc etc etc. Whether I am the hostess or the guest, I always find the reunions much more fun when everyone works together.
• Philippines
20 Jan 07
holy lord, yes. we're about 200+ in my extended family and we meet every five years in one of the houses of the eldest generation, AND what really makes me have an aversion to said reunions is that my mom always always Always guilts me and my siblings into performing something (from acting in a play about my grandfather's life, to dancing to Mariah Carey's Honey [it hurts me to remember...and to know that all 200+ relatives remember it as well]). But it's not THAT bad. i mean the chinese food is always good.
1 person likes this
@mzbubblie (3839)
• United States
20 Jan 07
We have family reunions once a year, we play everything from spades, volleyball, dominoes...There is some bbqing going on and fish fries that's the main attraction...My grandfather and my uncles normally pay for it and the family chip in....and the load is shared but normally my aunts and grandmothers prepare the meals...
• United States
21 Jan 07
I'd forgotten about the fish fries. They are not a part of our reunions, but my parents used to love deep sea fishing. Whenever my 2 brothers-in-law went to visit them in LA they would all go fishing and then the family would get together for a fish fry.
@karlana (55)
• United States
21 Jan 07
I haven't been to a family reunion since I was 11. It was in Hawaii and it was HUGE!! Almost everyone was there and it had stretched out over a week!
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
Then you'll just have to come to one of ours! Ask lilbit about it.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
31 Jan 07
We have had both my family and my wifes family have reunions reciently. We had a great deal of fun and met many new people. i would love to have one every couple of years. We had a great time and many photos for the future.
1 person likes this
@wasim989 (2298)
• India
20 Jan 07
Actually my family don't need reunions because we always gather around 2 to 3 times a year because we all are very close to each other that we cannot seperate from each other for too long.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
You are very lucky to be so close. We are spread over a few continents so we cherish the times we can get together.
• United States
20 Jan 07
My Dad has 8 sisters and they all have kids. Every Christmas we rent a cafeteria somewhere and get together for a pot luck. There are anywhere form 100 to 200 people there. We eat and talk...not much else happens. Pretty uneventful but nice to see everyone.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
I love big families. And they are making an effort to get together. Maybe you could take some board games to the next one and get people playing. We have a great time with Scrabble tournaments, and massive Trivial Pursuit games -- boys vs girls. One person reads the questions for the other team and anyone on the team can just call out the answer. (I love calling my 70 year old aunt a "girl" or when my gay brother shouts out the answer to a girl's question and if it is correct, we let him join our team. And then there is my older brother, who when he has had enought rum and coke, will spend the night arguing the that a pig is a bear.) It gets crazy and loud, but it is fun.
• India
21 Jan 07
yeah we have it generally on some festivals day or on some functions.!!!!!!!!!
• United States
20 Jan 07
We have one family reunion a year and I hate it. I can't stand going because I'm practically the eldest kid there, no one else is my age, and everyone expects me to watch the younger children all day.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
I'm sorry you don't have fun, but if you can stand some insight from an older lady...my kids used to hate all things family, so I stopped taking them, stopped keeping the family traditions. And one day they said to me, why don't we do that anymore. Now that they are older, they remember the good times, and look forward to attending family functions. Someday your perspective may change, and you will look back and laugh. If you don't have any siblings or cousins your own age, maybe you could invite some friends. We don't limit to blood relatives, family friends are always included and often attend.
• India
20 Jan 07
I am a prt of a joint family... so there is no sorts of things like family reunion. However if there is any marriage kind of thing then it is the time for a get together as all the distant relatives are present and we have a great fun at that time.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
I've never heard the term joint family. Can you explain it, please?
• Pakistan
21 Jan 07
Yes alot. It depends sometime the re-union is on any occassion like someone's wedding or engagement or any kind of ceremony or religious festivals. But if any of these functions doesnt come for a long time then we have a re-union having the excuse of enjoyment.
1 person likes this
@ghostbat (156)
• Canada
20 Jan 07
My family used to have reunions just because of one of my aunts , but when she passed away, everything perished,m no more family reunions.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
It sounds like your family has a lot of fun! :) We don't really do reunions, per se, since we're a relatively small family. Over the years, our extended family network has shrunk due to people "going home," and due to others marrying off. There's eight of us that fairly regularly see one another. We definitely spend time together on holidays, even in summer, like 4th of July. Typically, mom cooks a huge meal, and depending on the occasion, we do different things. One of the most fun things we did last year was just to have a cookout for no reason. It was just an impromptu "Hey, why don't we...?" and we did. A blast! :) Blessings, Holly
@ipanks (890)
• Indonesia
21 Jan 07
i have family reunions.usually we have gathering one in a year.but my close family like my grandma,grandpa,auntie,uncle, will always together at least 1 weeks.its make we still so close each other.
@bison007 (254)
• Indonesia
21 Jan 07
I also have family reunions twice a year. Usually we just rent a villa and all of us have fun for like 2 days, sometimes just playing card, ping pong, or swimming, and there is always tons of food there, make me gain some weight after reunions.
1 person likes this
@dopey22girl (3319)
• United States
21 Jan 07
My family is somewhat sad, in that we only get together about 2-3 times a year. Usually just for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We meet at my grandmother's house on my moms side. It's all the aunts and the uncles and cousins and stuff. The unfortunate side is I have somewhat of a wacky family so some of the people are either in jail or out stealing stuff so they're not there at the "reunions". On my dad's side of the family there is just one aunt and uncle and we haven't seen them for at least 5 years. It makes me kind of sad. But when we get together with my mom's side for Thanksgiving and Christmas my grandma does most of the cooking, and everyone else brings a dish. We don't really have any activities other than just sitting around visiting, which is usually talk consisting of who's done what wrong and stuff. I don't enjoy it very much. But I do like to see my grandma and grandpa and two of my cousins. Sad isn't it?
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 07
Well on my moms side of the family we dont have reunions that often, but we have one every couple of years and its probably about 200-300 people, maybe more but its a lot. The food we eat isnt anything specific , each family brings a dish....and we have a barbaque. The activities are kind of seperated, the kids always get together and play, usually a euchre tournament going on lol, and then volleyball, and basketball. On my dads side we kind of have reunions every year maybe a couple times. The family isnt too big its about 30 people and we always get together for christmas reunions ( in the summer lol ). We usually have it on the lake so we swim, paddle boat, play cards, and play volleyball. My family is really competitive!
1 person likes this
@foxhound (27)
• Philippines
21 Jan 07
Every summer we always have a family reunion in our hometown. Family members from far away places visit in our town to get together.
1 person likes this