I am part of a very large family with lots and lots of close relatives. There is great joy in that, but there are also constraints. For example, few can afford to host parties that include upwards of 100 relatives--that's prohibitive to most of us. So what do you do to nurture and care for the connections that a very large family holds dear?
I've thought a lot about this especially since my big, extended family spent a lot of good times together as children. I have warm and wonderful memories of those times. I remember though when one family stopped going to all the get togethers. Essentially their family unit had become so large that they felt they needed their own gatherings. That was a hard break, but it made sense since to keep their family together, they needed more intimate time for just their crew. After that, other families began to break off when it came to holiday celebrations and other big events as it was impossible to invite 100 or more people to a birthday party, Thanksgiving celebration, or other significant events. Yet, we still found ways to be close and stay connected.
This weekend we're trying something new which is a cousin meet-up--many of us are meeting at a beach location to reconnect and have fun together. I'm looking forward to seeing cousins I haven't seen in a long, long time. I'm also hoping to meet some of their loved ones including partners, children, sons- and daughters-in-laws, and grandchildren. What's nice about this get together is that it is affordable and there's little leg work with the exception of choosing a public place, a time, and preparing our own picnic and supplies for a day of fun. I'm hoping this will be the start of a new meet-up tradition.
Another way that I've found that we can keep this big family close is a women's holiday celebration. I was closest to my female cousins, and have started a tradition of getting together at the holidays to share stories and a good time. It's a good way to catch up with one another, and it's a casual come-if-you-can invitation.
When you have a huge family like I do, you rarely find yourselve without a shoulder to lean on or someone to talk to, but you do face the challenge of how to keep the connections close as the family gets larger and larger. Onward.