One month later. I am only now able to write about the absolutely fantastic time we had at our family reunion in Jamaica in mid July. I think I couldn't post about it before because I knew there would be no way to really do it justice. We flew in from all over to join our relatives in Jamaica, seventy five of us all told, staying in villas at Silver Sands on the north coast, smaller family groups sharing the rental of each house, with all the groups coming together each day and evening for reunion activities at the beach bar and open air patio adjacent to the swimming beach. It was perfect. My niece Leisa planned the whole thing over the course of the past year and she pulled off a deeply restorative and joyful event for all of us.
The first night we had a big group dinner and greeted family we hadn’t seen in years, met all the new generations we didn't already know, and introduced our tribes anew, each “house” representing one of the original nine Stiebel siblings. My mom’s offspring, the House of Gloria, showed up in force, with all my kids and my brother and all but one of his kids and all our loves there with us. We all stayed together in a sprawling beachside villa called Tallawah, fourteen of us in all in a beautiful sea breeze swept place, plus my cousin Carla and her wife Jackie, all the way from San Francisco, who as lone representatives of the House of Beulah, folded in with us. House of Donald and House of Maisy were almost fully represented as well, and House of Percy and house of Terrence had strong contingents too. House of Winifred had a decent turnout, but House of Grace had only one member present, due to some sadness I won’t get into. Only the House of Fay was unrepresented. We missed the ones who couldn’t make it, and kept them close to heart. (None of this attendance tally will mean anything to anyone reading here; this is really for my own record.)
Day 2 we did multigenerational Survivor games on the beach in the morning and karaoke in the evening. Day 3 we went rafting on the Martha Brae river and had a white party with a DJ and danced under the stars till the wee hours, with exuberant conga lines and the like. Two other family groups were also doing reunions at Silver Sands and we ended up mixing festivities with a lovely camaraderie. Day 4 we lounged in the morning at our various villas and then gathered at our house in the afternoon to watch the World Cup soccer final (Spain over Argentina all the way!) before dispersing to dress for the final night’s group dinner at the beach club. We all departed the next morning, with Leisa, Grant, and little Harper traveling back to New York City with us to meet the truck with all their belongings that had driven from Dallas while they were at the reunion. They have now officially moved to the city and are ensconced in their new digs in Brooklyn.
Since words can't really capture how magical the whole experience of being together was, especially (for me) watching the younger generations of us bond and carry on the warm familial relationships our parents instilled in us as paramount to nurture, even down to little Harper with her little cousins, all the children racing around among the grown ups, the way I remember doing with my cousins when I was a child myself, since I can't truly evoke how that fed my very soul, I'll just put up some more pictures, in no particular order, and let them hold this space instead.
Survivor red team (he was the youngest at our last reunion).
My berry girl and me.
Gosh, 75 family members in one picture. I can't imagine the hours your niece put into planning this event. How wonderful are all the activities. What a lovely beach house! What a blessing this reunion was!
ReplyDeleteAs always I am in awe of your amazing family. What a reunion to remember forever.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see you again. I am sad for those who were not able to join you, but so very happy that you were able to enjoy such an extraordinary event.
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic! How happy everyone looks -- joy in all those smiles. I am so glad for YOU.
ReplyDeleteIt is a joy to know that your loving extended family enjoyed time together in this way in Jamaica. Lovely photos!
ReplyDeleteSo incredibly beautiful. Every bit of this. From the sea to the babies. The aunties, the cousins, the parents, the loves, every one of you with that expression on your faces of perfect sweet tranquility that only a sea of that color can create. Of course I am crying.
ReplyDeleteHow glorious!
ReplyDeleteMy husband comes from a very big family and they all celebrated the big life events with big gatherings. It was always a little overwhelming to me who came from a very small family and have only one first cousin.
75 family members joining together for a reunion is nothing less than spectacular. Your niece did an amazing job organizing the event.
ReplyDeleteThe location could not have been more perfect.
Everybody looks to be having the time of a lifetime.
You must be thrilled to have your niece in Brooklyn. Seeing Harper grow and thrive locally will be wonderful.
What an amazing reunion! Such a gorgeous place to stay and so many fun activities and a lovely location. Your niece did a fabulous job and I'm glad you had so much fun. Such happy, loving memories to keep.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific event in such a beautiful place! Your family manages to foster a sense of togetherness that many of us can only envy. It struck me while reading this that when I first started reading your blog, many of your aunts (and your mother) were still alive. It's amazing how time flies.
ReplyDeleteSun-soaked and smile-soaked! (If that's a word? Ha, it should be.) Happy for you all. After returning from Europe, we spent lots of time with our grand-turkeys, also a smile-soaked experience, ha.
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