"FAMILY REUNIONS 2012"! "... this is all about US"!
... we wanted to work on something that was inclusive !!! It started as a thought, as most things do, and then turned into this ... "FAMILY REUNION"! This coming year we are (only) 'registering 26 families' to talk with them about their families reuniting and how things are coming along with their event. In some cases ... we would like to particpate ... let's stay in touch!
The Family Reunion ... I've never really experienced anything like it ... As a very young boy, growing up with mother and father, having extended family ... we were close to both sides .. My mother was one of 8 children .. and most all 8 had children ... My grandmother ... and grandfather (on moms side) were there ... and this was constant ... always great times when, for just any reason we went to visit or they came to visit us ... My fathers side was very similar, only his mother and father passed away when he was very young ... and his mothers sister raised him and his 5 siblings ... We never had the opportunity to know his mother and father ... but as a youngster ... it didn't mean all that much ... It wasn't until the mid 1980's that there was a Family Reunion (on my fathers side) and "from out of the blue" comes a side of this family that we didn't know ... As it turns out one of my cousins and I worked together ... This relationship continued to grow ... As it is ... my cousins mothers (my cousin) brother is the family historian on their side ... And Michael has been deep inside the census bureau diggin up this "Alexander Family"... It could have been from my website that another side of the Alexanders found US ... and invited us to their Family Reunion this past August in Ft Washington Md ... as it turned out ... this was the first time, since emancipation (1865) that these sides of the family have been together ... right after the slaves were freed ... a brother and his family moved from Mecklenburg County Virginia to Middlesboro Ky ... leaving brothers and sisters in Mecklenburg County ... Because of family connections ... I thought that my grandmother (my fathers mother) was from Middlesboro Ky ... But connecting to this family in Ft Washington Md for the reunion ... there was more than a little that pointed at my grandmother and her family (father -Richard .. mother Victoria brothers and sisters) leaving Mecklenburg County to come north ... and not being from Middlesboro Ky ... As it turns out ... the great granddaughter of the plantation owner found that side of our family ... and extended an invitation to come visit the plantation (that is now a dairy farm) with some of the original building structures still intact ... this was a few years back ... and someone shot video there ... NOW! ... I'm a video editor ... and I'm putting our Family Reunion on DVD ... perhaps even TV ... and I can truely understand why ... and how families 'disconnect' ... I've begged ... called ... emailed ... asking to get a copy of those tapes so that I can include them into ( www.webbradio.com/FamilyReunion ) this family reunion ... and OMG ... as it is, the reunion that took place was a tribute to parents of a side of the family that married a daughter of the Alexanders ... and the original organizers made sure that it was the "other name" that was in front of the reunion theme ... and that a very prominent part of the family not be mentioned or mentioned as little as possible (hahahahah ... oh yes) I can see how ... right after emancipation "this family" would have disconnected ... and back then there was no long distance ... air-travel ... Internet .... sure ... and here we are 100 or so years later ... finding cousins ... family ... I moved my family to Florida 3 years ago after retirement ... and probably talk to my brother more now then I did when we were in NY ... It could not have happened back then ... In any case ... yes Family Reunions are important "... to know your history ... is to know your strength"! If you have a chance ... please visiit my "other" page here on BlackPlanet ... FamilyReunion2008 ... I'd really like to talk to you about your Family Reunion ... and please ... look at our 'circle of life" part of the video ... powerful ... ! Thanks for the moment ... Tommy Webb
