I spent Memorial Day Weekend going to a family reunion in Atlanta, which was a great way to start the summer.  We’ve got a small family spread out over the East, and we’re trying to get together more often.  So, Memorial Day was our start.  It was great to be with family, great to travel that weekend – and I ended up experiencing the true meaning of Memorial Day more than once.

I hadn’t been to Atlanta in ages, and the central spot for our weekend was my cousin’s home in Buford.  This is the sister of the cousin I visited in Nashville for Thanksgiving.  Flying in to Atlanta and then driving out to Buford gave me a chance to drive through downtown Atlanta and see the buildings of all the largest companies based there like Coca Cola, Cox and CNN.  I enjoyed seeing all the famous names on big buildings, all clustered downtown.

We had a great weekend, hanging around, eating lunch and then having a barbecue and just spending time together catching up and going over family stories.   Our group didn’t see each other much growing up so it’s great to connect and realize how much we share.  I know that other families do huge reunions with elaborate plans – for us it’s just great to be together.  My cousin and her husband were the best of hosts, and cousins, children and grandchildren simply enjoyed the day.

With our family there’s always high jinks at some point – we’ve got a lot of creative people with ideas pouring out in all directions.  My favorite was the idea to string Christmas lights under the large umbrella on the patio as the patio got dark – with one cousin balanced precariously draping the lights and my other cousin’s husband running back and forth from the attic with string after string of lights to try out.  I couldn’t stop laughing.  The lights were looking pretty good when I left for my hotel, but in the morning it was all taken down.  On to the next idea.

We’d planned a day trip to Stone Mountain for our second day, but that got set aside  – threat of thunderstorms and a cousin getting lost coming back from a music gig at a special Memorial Day church service.  No worries; Stone Mountain’s not going anywhere, and we can do that another time.  Glad to have him back with us; it didn’t feel right without him.  We talked about going to the Coca Cola Museum and having lunch at The Varsity – which I’d never heard of but which I now can’t get out of my mind – but in the end we all decided to just go to the pool and then out to dinner at Dominick’s, an Italian restaurant nearby.  Italian’s definitely the best choice for our family.  We each chose our favorites – manicotti, chicken parmesan, ravioli, mussels, spaghetti and meatballs, got a double order of their excellent garlic bread and my cousin’s husband selected a really nice bottle of Chianti for the adults to share.

We had a great dinner talking and eating together, and the meaning of Memorial Day hit home when my cousin’s husband quietly picked up the dinner tab for a Marine and his wife who were at a nearby table.  That made the family dinner even better, and it was hard to say goodbye as I headed back to my hotel.  The next morning, waiting for my Delta flight, the meaning of Memorial Day hit home again as military personnel were invited to board the plane ahead of other passengers.  As everyone applauded I thought couldn’t – and shouldn’t – we do that every day and on every airline?

I like Memorial Day weekend – it’s the start of the summer, a time to think about what we have in America, and this Memorial Day was one of the best.  I can’t wait for the next reunion.  It might be Atlanta, it might be Cape Cod, it might be Sarasota – we’re thinking of switching between each other’s homes.  Wherever it is I’m looking forward to it.  More lights, more Italian restaurants, more family and more of what Memorial Day is about.