Some of my fondest memories are of the family reunions of my youth. Great-grandpa and grandma Ridnour had three children who lived to adulthood. (Their eldest, Freddie, died at age six.) Next in line was my grandfather Joseph, then Florence and lastly, Lottie.
My Grandpa Joe and Grandpa Delphia Ridnour had three daughters and sixteen grandchildren - my first cousins. Great Aunt Florence and Great Uncle Tom Haley had nine children and 26 grandchildren. Great Aunt Lottie and Great Uncle Guy Inman had five children and 10 grandchildren - 36 second cousins for me to know and grow up with (on that side of my family). And when we all got together for a Ridnour Family Reunion it was a blast, i.e. wild fun.
Families took turns hosting the annual reunions. The farthest I remember going was to Parnell, MO to Fern and Edwin Mitchell's home.
Pictures of each family grouping were taken that day. This one is of my Mom's older sister Evelyn and her family.
Left to right: Glen, Janet, Uncle Howard, Lila, Glenna, Larry, Mary Lou and Aunt Evelyn.
As first cousins we spent a lot of time together.
Pictured here at the same 1957 reunion is the family of Mom's first cousin Esther and her husband Lloyd and their children Shirley, Jenice, Russ and Ron. (The little girl in front was photobombing before that was a term known to photographers.)
Travis's were our neighbors - lived the closest to us and went to the same church we did. Mom was probably closest to Esther as any of her girl cousins.
As we grew up, married, moved away, had families of our own and the elders were no longer around, we didn't see our first cousins as often as we once did and saw our second cousins hardly at all - usually only at a funeral. But I never forgot the good times we had together.
I've been sorting through pictures and trying to return them to family members. Some I've scanned and sent via e-mail or FB messenger. In cases where there were many photos I've taken them to cousins nearby or invited them to pick them up.
Yesterday afternoon one of my 2nd cousins did just that.
I hadn't seen Julie in ages, probably not since her mother died in 2012 and I attended the visitation.
So it was a real delight for me to see her again and spend time catching up with one another.
There is a French word for how I felt: Retrouvailles - the happiness of meeting someone very dear to you after a long time.
I wish that my children, and grandchildren, could experience the pleasure of being close to their cousins like I was - and some of them are. Maybe they will look back years from now with the same nostalgic feelings I have.
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