Reunions

I have been thinking about the family reunions that we were dragged to when we were little.  There were three each summer, one for Dad's side of the family and two for Mom's.  They were very different in mood and food although they were all held in public parks.
On Mom's side was the reunion of her Dad's family.  This reunion included all of Mom's siblings and families and all of Grandpa's siblings and cousins.  This was the really fun one because we knew all of the people.  Mom's siblings were all still fairly young so most of the cousins were younger than me but there were a few who were just a few years younger that I could talk to and play with.   Mom's family lived close by so we knew them quite well and met them regularly at family birthdays and such.  Also, the food was really good.  These people could cook and were generous with the amount they brought and the variety plus they would always have ice cream later in the afternoon.  What more could a young person ask for on a Sunday afternoon.  There would be games set up too like horseshoes and volleyball.  Everyone got along and was pleasant to everyone.  I have good memories of those days.
Then there was the reunion of Mom's mother's family.  We didn't know anyone there.  They all lived miles away and we only saw them the day of the reunion.  There were so many of them too.  They were also older making their youngest children still older than us.  My main memory of this gathering was that one of Mom's aunts had twelve children having the last one when she was fifty.
Lastly, we had the reunion of my Dad's family.  Unlike Mom, he was close to the youngest while Mom was second oldest in her family.  These cousins were older or strangers and the food was terrible.  We all knew what Mom brought and that was what we ate.  One of the families were hunters and they brought what they shot.  We didn't know what it was and were not adventurous enough to try it.  This reunion was always held only a block from our house so if it got too boring we could walk home.  Of course, we wouldn't leave until after the baseball game in which our Dad and his brothers participated much to the enjoyment of the rest of the group.  They were terrible at it.  Not a Willie Mays or Nellie Fox in the group.( Nellie Fox played for the Chicago Cubs about the same time as the reunion games)
That was how I spent three summer Sundays as a child.  The remaining Sundays were spent going to church, coming home to eat, and listening to the play by play on the radio or watching one of the Chicago baseball teams play on TV.  We would wait for Dad to fall asleep so we could change the channel but as soon as we would change the channel, he would wake up and tell us to turn the ballgame back on.