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| The Thayn girls with their great-grandparents. |
“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.”
— Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams
Last week we held one of the Big Events of the Summer – the 2021 Howe/Rathfon Family Reunion. This year it was hosted by my niece Jennie and her parents, my sister Hollie and brother-in-law Jim, and my niece Laura down in North Carolina. The official days were Tuesday evening to Saturday morning, but some people got there early, some got there late, some left early, and some stayed late. They were glorious days. Forty-five people, descendants of my grandparents Mary Elizabeth Showers and Arthur LeFevre Rathfon, related by blood, marriage, or adoption were there – and what a wonderful group of people they are!
Stacey and I left home on Tuesday afternoon to drive down. We made it as far as Fredericksburg, Virginia, that night and then drove on the next morning. The reunion was held at the Eagle’s Nest Campground in Mount Olive, North Carolina. The camp is owned by the church and it is a great facility with cabins, a huge (air conditioned!) gathering hall, and all sorts of activity areas surrounding a beautiful lake in the middle of the woods. Some people stayed in the cabins at the camp, some (the ones who needed air conditioning and more amenities) stayed at hotels or air b‘nb’s nearby.
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| The main hall at the Eagle's Nest. |
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| Bridge over the lake. |
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| The lake. |
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| The Airbnb in Kinston where my immediate family stayed. |
There were different planned activities over the days we were there – a visit to a local pickle factory, a trip to the beach, a visit to a fishing store, a talent show. There were continual in-camp activities – swimming, outdoor games, indoor games, fishing, crafts, canoeing.
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| A game of bocce. |
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| Mabel swimming. |
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| Table games. |
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| Jigsaw puzzels. |
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| Fishing. |
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| Story time. |
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| The craft table. |
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| Canoeing. |
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| And more canoeing.
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| The Talent Show - making music. |
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| The Talent Show - Cousin Ron reciting poems. |
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| The Talent Show - Uncle Bob's stand-up comedy. |
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| The Talent Show - The Rathfons sing. |
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| The Talent Show - Hazel the contortionist. |
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| The Talent Show - the Martins sing. |
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| The Talent Show - Alex plays. |
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| The Talent Show - Aunt Nancy and Sarah play a duet. |
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| An impromptu jam session. |
There was a last minute improvised activity – a triathlon involving canoeing, bb gun shooting, and water balloon tossing.
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| The triathlon begins! |
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| Water balloon toss. |
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| Canoe race. |
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| Coming ashore. |
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| Run! |
There was music – instrumental, and vocal. And there was food. So much excellent food. But mostly there was time to sit and talk, to reacquaint ourselves with people we don’t see often enough, and to get to know new family members we’d never met before.
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| Preparing one of the great meals we had. |
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| Grill masters John and Steve. |
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| Great food. |
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| Sarah making a special treat - apple frangipane. |
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| Master tortilla flippers - Bob and Ann. |
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| My mother enjoying her frangipane a la mode. |
The weather was hot and humid, typical for North Carolina in August, but not for people who live in cooler or dryer places. I loved it, but I also loved escaping to the air conditioned great hall when I wanted. We had some thunderstorms and torrential rain while we were there. Many of the children spent most of the day swimming in the lake. Many of the adults spent most of the day sitting in the shade or indoors chatting, sometimes taking a little nap.
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| Downpour. |
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| Standing around and chatting. |
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| And more chatting. |
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| And sitting and chatting. |
The days passed by too quickly. Saturday morning, we gathered for our final breakfast and good-byes. A few families had already departed. After we ate, we stood and sang together. We love to sing. We sang a few hymns, a couple of Christmas carols (how could we not). As we sang The Star-spangled Banner, tears began to flow. When we ended with God Be With You Til We Meet Again, there might have been some sobbing. It is always hard for me to say good-bye, but this time is was agony. With every hug, I wondered, when will we be together again? I cannot think about it now.
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| My siblings - Steve, Hollie, Nancy, and Jaynan. |
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| Most of the First Cousins. |
Stacey, Hannah, and I drove home together. The traffic on I-95 was terrible. It took us 13 hours to get home. We arrived here at midnight last night. I’m tired from the long hours in the car and still feeling tender-hearted from the farewells. I took a walk this morning before church to see how things fared here while I was gone. It looks like Kurt and Julie did a fine job taking care of things here. They tell me it rained seven inches over those days as Hurricane Fred moved through. I can tell. The creek is running, the lawn is shaggy, and there are mushrooms popping up everywhere. Miriam and Josiah stayed an extra day in North Carolina with the Thayns. They are traveling to Pittsburgh today and will be coming home tomorrow. I can see a hundred things that need to be done in the coming week. I’m thankful that today is the Sabbath and I can rest and not pay any attention to it for a day. I’m glad to be home again, but sad to be separated from all those wonderful people that I love so much. What a blessing it is to belong to such a great family! We’ve come to the last week of August already. All the big events are over. School starts this week. Summer is fading fast.
