Blackberries and Burpcloths: Home Sweet Home

Well we made it! We are home from our road trip and enjoying every minute of CT...aka couch time. Wes did WONDERFUL! He stayed right on schedule and made the trip as enjoyable as 16 hours in a car can be! We traveled through 6 states, logging about 2000 miles, in just under 4 days! It was quite a trek, but well worth it to attend the 70th Sommers Family and Friends reunion...yep you read it right, 70 years...consecutively. Every year on the first Saturday in August, 5 generations of Sommers converge on Indiana, Michigan, and even a few times in Texas to eat, drink, and catch upon all the happenings throughout the year. Its quite a feat, and it seems to run like a well oiled machine. Starting on Friday the campers start to roll in, tents start to pop, and kegs get tapped. The greetings begin and even the most distant relative is immediately welcomed with open arms. As Friday rolls into Saturday the tables are filled with every food imaginable...fried chicken, mashed potatoes, noodles and gravy, taco salad, pasta salad, hams, frog legs (yep I'm serious), fried fish, sweet corn, and on and on. As our bellies are filled the meeting starts....families are welcomed and introduced, accomplishments are celebrated, and prayers are said for those who have passed. As evening rolls in, the party slowly shifts and circles around the giant bonfire, toasts were made, kids ran through the dark playing hide and seek in the corn fields, and babies quietly drifted off to sleep. All around the fire stories were told... ones that have been told many times before but only get better with age. As the stragglers finally drifted off to bed, the fire died down, and before we knew it goodbyes began and the campers and cars started to roll out headed back to the eight states this family represents.

This was my first reunion as a spouse, and its amazing how welcome I felt right from the start. Its a simple concept, a family that meets one weekend a year. But there is nothing simple about this tradition. Ryan has so many wonderful memories of his reunion days and I hope someday my children have those same memories...

xoxo

Erin