external monologue

reunions

the montgomery family reunion was held this past weekend in rome, georgia. this has become an annual event, and usually consists of a small family dinner on saturday night and then a big bar-b-q lunch on sunday afternoon. its always a grand time, and my (1st, 2nd, no 3rd, removed... i'm confused) cousins monty and pat do most of the leg work. its held at the old montgomery homestead, on my uncle jack, the bee farmer's, property. people come from all over the nation for these few hours of socializing and catching up.

now a few things always stand out to me at this annual event. for one, i'm always amazed that there is such a thing as "the old homestead" in the montgomery family. i mean, this always sounds to me like something out of an old movie, and i always expect to hear john steinbeck-ish stories when i'm sitting at the table with uncle jack and aunt mary. and the funny thing is that I DO! every year i hear some crazy story relating the exploits of my ancestors. this year it was about mitsy montgomery (i think that's her name... whats up with everyone having funny nicknames in the early 1900s?). how she swindled some poor rich dupe into marrying her and building an enormous house on the montgomery land, only to leave him and claim the house as montgomery property.

the other interesting thing for me about montgomery family reunions is that i feel like i spend more time meeting people than catching up with them. what does this say about our family, our generation? a hundred years ago we probably would have all been living in the same city, and now, once a year, i am re-introduced to a handful of people that are somehow blood related to me. its not that i wish it was otherwise... okay, well i do wish that i knew these people better, but i'm finding that i tend to make my family the people around me moreso than my blood relations... immediate family excluded of course. its interesting to me that as i get closer to the people i spend time with every day i find myself thinking of them more and more as family. and when i go to the "family reunion" i find myself thinking of how i will relate my experiences back to "family" in chattanooga. its a strange feeling, both saddening and encouraging at the same time.

oh, i almost forgot to mention. one of the most interesting things about rome, georgia is the cemetaries because they're full of so many montgomeries. walking around them i really get a sense of the montgomery family history and always feel a bit overwhelmed at how small my role in the whole thing has been.