[speaker001:] okay uh do you have annual family reunions or
[speaker002:] uh yeah uh our the my my my mother's side of the family is quite large or well was quite large at one time and uh they uh for as long as I can remember have had uh a yearly reunion um back uh early on they used to to rotate them from house from some to to different people's houses in the family
[speaker001:] um-hum all local were they like all in Dallas
[speaker002:] and uh no no not no this was well I am actually from Mississippi and so that's it was it was around there generally uh that's where the family
[speaker001:] oh uh-huh uh-huh just from city to city then huh
[speaker002:] grew yeah and it was not only in Mississippi in some other places as well so it was uh
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] it it it was a big deal but uh they they tried to to centralize it in one spot so in the past couple of years they had it at um state park every year
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] we rent a pavilion and and do that and that's usually works out to be pretty good uh they will rent a pervilion pavilion on a weekend and uh
[speaker001:] do you go back
[speaker002:] I haven't gone back lately in fact uh this past Sunday was the uh was the reunion but I didn't get to go uh I have
[speaker001:] is it choice or just business or
[speaker002:] not getting to go uh just uh the distance involved and uh just not
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] I have a younger daughter now and uh I it's kind of hard to get her get her there and everything but I am going to to uh
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] hopefully next year get to go back because uh a lot of the family has not uh on her side my mother's side has not seen you know my daughter so
[speaker001:] oh do you have brothers and sisters
[speaker002:] I have one brother
[speaker001:] uh-huh uh-huh and is your mother still living
[speaker002:] so yes
[speaker001:] oh so so you go back and visit with her anyway wouldn't you I mean either way there was family reunion time or
[speaker002:] right yeah right I I usually see her a couple times a year so that's no no
[speaker001:] or not
[speaker002:] big thing but uh I uh I do I do enjoy the reunions the only problem is that now um originally originally when we had them uh they were mainly my mother's uh father's my mother's father's family had quite a few uh
[speaker001:] relatives right um-hum
[speaker002:] brothers and sisters so it was a large reunion of of of of that group uh from that descendancy
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and uh a lot of those people have and and at time you know they all knew one another
[speaker001:] right right
[speaker002:] and now it's gotten uh that uh a lot of those people are died have uh have died off or you know what we are left with is the the relatives of of of that group
[speaker001:] the next generation uh-huh
[speaker002:] and so uh it's not quite as close as it used to be so I think people feel less of a of a desire to really go I know that
[speaker001:] why why why do you think that it's less close than it used to be
[speaker002:] well I I just think that uh you know at that time when when they were you know those were all brothers and sisters a lot and or they were all in the same area geographical location you know back back around you know in the twenties and thirties when they were growing up
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] um you know they were all located together together in one small community
[speaker001:] right right right
[speaker002:] and as as time grew I mean when time went on the family grew and moved away and so forth and now when you when you they come together it's it's generally you know like say the kids kids of those people who are not you know anywhere near one another and I don't think they feel the the the closeness that they used to be there
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] which is a shame but that's just how it is my mother was complaining last year about the you know it's dwindling down every year you know that's just I think that's just
[speaker001:] is that just family's lack of priority anymore maybe yes that we get so involved in our work lives and just
[speaker002:] well yeah
[speaker001:] social lives and so forth that
[speaker002:] yeah that's uh yeah I think that's some of it but you know I I I it's just the way you know I think society society is now is that we are not we don't have the extensive family we used to it's more of a you know a smaller
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] smaller unit and you know we we tend to try to do things I think with with our immediate family as opposed to the extended family of people that we may or may not remember or know you know very well uh
[speaker001:] right right it really makes an effort on to to do this anymore right right
[speaker002:] right it requires a lot of effort to to to to do that sort of thing I mean I I used to enjoy going I mean I still do kind of enjoy it but uh it's it doesn't it's not as many people there that I really really enjoy seeing
[speaker001:] right right
[speaker002:] you know I it's going just for the sake of getting together I think for the family and
[speaker001:] do you correspond with anybody other than your mother and brother that's in that group
[speaker002:] uh
[speaker001:] on a regular basis not just Christmas cards though
[speaker002:] um um no not really that in that but then again uh well I you know I have some aunts that uh I I I I do that's about my mother's sisters
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] you know but I feel closer to them because I kind of grew up with them but but uh as for the you know for the rest of that group no not really
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] you know and and generally when I was growing up a lot of those people the only time I ever saw them was at the reunion so uh you do not really feel that
[speaker001:] right right
[speaker002:] that really close to them
[speaker001:] right in my my uh father's family we get together every year at a different location either Dallas or Oklahoma City they had chosen Santa Barbara California for this summer and and didn't get enough people that were willing to go that far because most of us live either in the midwest or like in the Texas Oklahoma area
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and uh so they canceled that one and uh are looking next year bringing it back closer but we have a letter a family letter
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] that circulates and it usually goes through me twice a year and what you do is take out the last letter you wrote that's on the bottom and put the your new letter on the top and then that's the way it's kept in order and then about twice a year then you are kept up with what is going on and when you meet them at the reunion you don't feel like I don't know anything about this person you've you've read something about what is going on and about their children and so forth so you are kind of half way acquainted that way
[speaker002:] that's a good idea right
[speaker001:] and that that's been a that's been a nice way of
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] keeping us all aware of each other I think
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] we tried to start that in my husband's family his mother's side decided they were going to have a reunion a couple of years ago and I said well let's start this letter and it just never my husband's sisters started it and sent it to us and that's as far as it got I sent it on to the next one and and but we are going in a couple of weeks to the next one in Scottsdale Arizona for that family
[speaker002:] yeah um-hum
[speaker001:] and uh we're real glad we got together because since that that time there were only like two of the one sister and one sister-in-law of the original family left and the sister-in-law died and the sister is in a nursing home so we are glad that we took that opportunity two years ago