A beginning

I grew up attending Brueggeman Reunions.  One Sunday in July, every year, we would travel to the Akron area to have a church service, eat and play.  The grown-ups had a meeting every year, but that's when the kids would run outside and begin playing before the organized games began.  Once a year I would see distant cousins and rejoice in having MOST of my cousins with me.  When Uncle Billy wanted to have me as a partner for the water balloon toss or Uncle Bob showed me a magic trick, I felt special.  There was so much food and so much fun.

Those reunions defined my childhood.  My mother first said, "Eat dessert first, that way you'll always have room," at a reunion.  

The reunions were not just a day to me.  A day or two before, when we lived nearby, family would descend and stay with us.  Some years there were so many sleeping at our home that you would have to be careful not to step on anyone.  There were card games, laughter and all sorts of shenanigans.  We often went to Cedar Point after the reunion.

I had no idea how special it was then.  I only knew that this event was constant in my life.  I knew it was a link to the descendants of my great-grandfather.  My grandfather was one of 10.  I knew that those who married in called themselves "out-laws" instead of "in-laws" because we had something unexplainable that bound us together.

I grew up and started attending the meetings.  I married.  Our family grew to include 4 children.  I realized that, as the baby of my generation, I was a new parent, but in the grandparent generation.  My children's generation were bringing their children.

Sue Usner-Miller had always been a part of the reunion.  Her invitations and calendars were a staple in our home.  I loved to read them and use the calendars.  They were simply beautiful.  She was the secretary of our family.  After 56 years, she decided to step down.  I was nominated for her job.  She handed me a bag of papers, a thumb-drive and there I was.

The first year as secretary was spent trying to make heads or tails of what I was doing.

The second year as secretary brought an ounce of order to the job.

The third year as secretary, that's where I am now.  That ounce of order has become very important.  I have realized that our reunion did not start with my great-grandfather.  It started with my great-great-grandfather and his siblings.  That bag?  It's our history.  Pictures of people I don't know.  Letters from people who haven't been with us for 50 years (or more).  The thumb drive?  The beginnings of my quest to find the addresses of every descendant of E.A. Brueggeman to send them an invitation in hopes that our reunion would once again grow into the gala it once was.

I'm learning so much about our family.  Others have blogged about us (and passed away), so I decided to follow in their footsteps as I learn about my family.

This year, in the pandemic of COVID-19, with the shelter still shut today (May 26), is our 97th reunion.  This year will look different, but it will happen!