Last fall my brother John and I were sitting in his living room in Medford, Oregon, and we began to talk about family gatherings. This is not an unusual subject for us as many of our memories originate in these events. We had not met since the summer of 2011, and decided it was time! With that, we were able to find a home in So. Ore., not far from my dad's house, and were able to book it for the 4th of July weekend leading up to the marriage of my step-sister Galina. Perfect timing and it turned out to be a perfect event.
Earlier this spring I read an article in the New York Times. The thrust of it was that just knowing the stories of our families is enough to make a huge difference in our ability to cope with all that life throws at us. One of the suggestions is to adopt a core mission just like successful businesses. I feel like our core is found in inclusiveness, being the acceptance of all of our family and love for each of them, as well as a desire to take what we have been blessed with and use it to share with others. I feel very lucky to have arrived here on earth with a wife, parents, siblings, cousins, children and in essence a whole bunch of family, both birth and other that really feel the power of this core objective. See the NYTimes article here . It is well worth the read.
This event started with Paula and I, Nic and Hailey and their kids, Chris and Kenni and the girls, and Tucker and Alicia and their two arriving at the Hidden Pine Retreat on Wednesday evening and getting ready for the crowd. The pool was delightful, and Paula and I even snuck out for a midnight swim.
By noon on Thursday the 4th, the house began to fill up, and by about 5 pm, there were 72 of us there! I have pasted my spreadsheet into this blog. It shows families by generation. All there were family descendants of Armand and Francis Vial, my dads parents.
Armand 2
Leslie
Rich 2
Paula
Cuong 6
Linh
Kayla
Sara
Regan
Su Lu
Chuong 5
Liyan
Eva
Victor
Felix
Nic 6
Hailey
Kennedy
Sierra
Ava
Bree
Alicia 4
Tucker
Weston
Tulia
Kevin 1
Christian 4
Kenni
Zuri
Dot
Nate 2
Caitlin
Dave 2
Eva
John 3
Anna
Aubrey
Jeff 5
Lynn
Clark
Phil
Scott
Mike 4
Christine
Sam
AJ
Mario 4
Angie
Josh
Amelia
Aunt Mau 2
David
Carol 3
Gary
Natalie
Janis 6
Jon
Braden
Caden
Mattie
Lucy
Savannah 3
Michaelangelo
Eden
Aaron 4
Michelle
Mazy
Gavin
Aunt Arleen 2
Dick
Tracy 2
Gary
Total 72
We got them all rounded up (not easy), and got a couple of quick pictures. Click on the pic to enlarge.
The pool, the hot tub, every chair and bit of lawn was full of family!
Anna and Eva organized some games, and gamely tried to get the attention of the herd of cats to play. Actually turned out to be a lot of fun especially for the kids.
And even for a few adults!
Paula's brother Tim, who died in a tragic motorcycle accident a number of years ago, had a ski boat, which ended up with his brother Ty, who for the last couple of years has had it up with our boys. Nic took a lot of the cousins out water skiing. On Friday, Ty also had an activity set up for us to float the Rogue River. Ty is one of those that has really embraced the concept of family and is very willing to share all that he has with anyone.
A rock skipping contest.
The river was fun and beautiful. Really a great memory building activity.
The little ones were happy and tired!
Some fast water some slow. I was the only one that got knocked out in a Class III.
Lots of birds. A couple of the most unusual included the Western Tanager, and the Green Heron.
Near the end of the float we stopped to play at the cliffs that line the river. Brave souls included Uncle Ty, Nic and even Sierra. Perhaps the bravest was Cuong, who is just learning to swim.
Lots of family fun, movies, games and just chillin'. But the plum on the weekend was being able to attend Galina and Brian's wedding over in Shady Cove. Again, this type of family gathering takes work, but is well worth the getting together.
Dad Vial got to help walk Galina down the aisle. Even the dog was led down the aisle by Sammy and Josh.
Great Grandpa wasn't really digging the suit, but we got some good mileage out of it.
Not that he comported himself with any particular class, nor was he a stellar example for the grandsons!
The couple was really fun to see.
Grandma's, cousins, toddler's, wow!
As Paula and I saw Jeff and his family off this morning at dawn, I couldn't help but think about all the effort that it takes for family to gather, but how important it is. So Pack Up the Babies and Grab the Old Ladies, it's Brother Love Show! FAMILY, the solution we don't want to forget.
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