This week’s column is a little different as it was started in Orlando and finished in Darke County almost twelve hours later, which means this is either going to be another award-winner or even more disjointed than most Shots articles!
We’ve just wrapped up another Warner Family Reunion, the 18th since beginning what’s become a cherished and much-anticipated tradition since 1990. These get-togethers are held every even year at different locations around the country with revolving hosts and planners, only the Covid year of 2020 being missed. Why only every two years, you might ask? The real reason is that it gives enough time for families to plan vacations or trips around the weekend festivities, but we jokingly (I think!) tell people that it’s because we can’t stand seeing each other yearly!
All of this came about in 1988 in my Uncle Jim and Aunt Betty’s kitchen in Memphis, following one of my cousins’ weddings. With parts of three generations present for the nuptials we had such a great time that started thinking about meeting more often. When my grandfather, Paul Warner, Sr., passed away a few months later, the entire clan gathered once again, and it was decided to hold a reunion in the near future. My brother Mark volunteered (what was he thinking!) to host the first of the series in Rochester, Minnesota, in ‘90, and almost 75 Warners from around the country arrived in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
We started with representatives from four generations, including our grandmother and a great aunt and uncle; my parents and my father’s two brothers and sister and a cousin and their spouses; my two brothers and myself and our eleven first cousins and three second cousins and everyone’s spouses; and finally all of our kids (which of course continued to grow in numbers!). Over the years, we’ve averaged between 50 and 60 attendees, knowing that not everyone can attend every occasion due to various other commitments.
We’ve joined each other in Minnesota three times, meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Greenville twice. Memphis, Estes Park, Colorado, and Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, along with St. Joseph, Michigan, Falls Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee, and Blowing Rock, North Carolina, have been part of the gatherings. Let’s not forget Williamsburg, Nashville, Philadelphia, San Diego, and this year’s journey to Orlando and Disney World!
Over the years, we’ve enjoyed each other’s company, sharing in the joys and sorrows that life sends our way. We’ve seen the family grow with an entirely new generation now participating; unfortunately, we’ve seen the passing of two generations (other than Betty, who just turned 98 in Memphis, and Carolyn, now 90 in Scottsdale, two of the kindest, sweetest people you’d ever want to meet); and in general, we’ve been able to remain friends as well as relatives. It has always been a pleasure to stay in touch with my cousins and their spouses, but it has also been rewarding to see second cousins (those of my daughters’ generation), and now even third cousins come to know each other. We’ve welcomed new members through marriage into the Warner clan and have passed down family lore and stories throughout the years, hoping to instill a sense of family history and traditions into each succeeding generation.
And now the time is approaching where it’s become time to begin passing the torch and responsibility of planning these outings to the next generation, knowing that the tradition will continue in capable hands. Our daughter Lauren, with help from our other daughter Alison, our nephew Paul, our wife Lindsay, and our sons-in-law Matt and Erick, hosted a great reunion this year! As the title of this Shots states, it’s a family gathering that you actually look forward to attending. Truly a blessing over the years!!
