It was sad, even borderline depressing. I'm talking about the 67th Annual Roustio Family Reunion. Don't digest that comment incorrectly. I enjoyed visiting with all my kin folks and love ones present but the reality was...not many were present. Once upon a time, I remember upwards of a hundred-fifty-folks sharing a day that began at 10AM and ended around six or seven early evening.
I recall many reunions filled with loud laughter, competitive games, anxious bingo calls, white elephant auctions and endless eats. This past Sunday, I deliberately did not head count for fear the number was short of fifty folks.
In attempts to come to grips with my despondency, I meandered outside the gathering hall as family inside began filling plates. I wandered about the outdoor pavilion where children once assembled to play toss games with eggs and water-filled balloons and stumbled around in three-legged-sack races. I found myself walking the vacant baseball field where as a young boy, I relished the family softball competition against fathers and uncles. I could envision faces running about and cat-calls only family could utter. Many of those voices are silenced as year's claim the numbers.
I gathered myself and surpressed my feelings as I considered that much of my emotion was simply driven by the thoughts of an aging man who tussles with the longing for yesteryear while yet blessed with his realities in today.
The sixty-seventh Roustio Family Reunion was tucked away and the Shiloh, Illinois Klucker Hall left clean and empty before the four o'clock hour. As I walked to the parking lot side by side with my brother, Tom, four years my junior, I thought of his toughness. He recently celebrated a one year anniversary with an artificial heart pump implant. Fourteen pounds of batteries worn in a fishing-type jacket facilitate his every breath. We paused for a couple of photos taken by family and then we embraced...we embraced for several moments. We whispered some private thoughts as I felt some trembling of our bodies.
I know only this...God willing there are two fellas committed to the 68th Roustio Family Reunion.
Why? Our Dad expects us to be there...it's a 'Family thing,' a respect thing and that's THAT!
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