Final thoughts

The reunion was a success, I think, in spite of the fact that one family was not represented. The park location was perfect; the SLO County Recreation Department staff was friendly and even stopped by to bring us more trash bags. (I think it was a friendly pretext to make sure we were the right group.)

Everyone who came Friday was there on Saturday, plus several who drove down for just the day - like cousin Leanne from Berkeley. Her parents, Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Don, brought a five-gallon hand-crank ice cream maker. It took relays of the fourth generation to crank it to soft serve stage. My husband, Tim, barbecued his famous pork loin and we all brought side dishes to share. We ate and talked and laughed for hours. Cheryl said one sure way to signal the party was over was to clean up, so we refused to clean anything until the first couple got up to leave. I was too tired to lead an expedition to the beach as planned, but so were the kids. So we adjourned to Kenny's place, sat around and played Family Reunion Bingo and talked some more.

The next morning, everyone who was still in town went back to Kenny's beach home for German sausage and pancakes. Everyone except me, it was my husband's birthday, so we had breakfast together and I met them all in time for leftovers.

The best indicator of success was the talk about the next reunion! Have to get my contact information to Debby. Maybe we'll see everyone next year.

Next step,