“It’s Family Reunion Time!..More than a “Barbecue” A Family Reunion Tribute!

• by Dr. Joan Hillsman
• June 27, 2017

To me this is an appropriate time for me to remind you of the importance of family.  Whether it is an annual “get-together”, a dinner, picnic or a phone call on special days, it is important. As we celebrate, especially during this season, although to many of us, everyday is a day of thanksgiving for focusing on who we are, what roots we came from, who are our relatives.. known or unknown. We need to know! Celebrate our roots. Thank God for the motivation of Alex Haley, the genealogy experts who brought to our attention of just who we are as individuals, and how to pass it on for generations. We did not choose our relatives; we were given to us by the Divine Creator. Celebrate them!  Here are some important reasons, in my opinion: You will know where you came from: (Regardless of the struggles or their past and yours) You can pass your heritage one to your family and their children You can be the matriarch and the family historian (guiro). I you don’t have one-find one who can tell your story and your history. Be proud and thankful, if you think you have “arrived” that you did not endure some of the pain that your fore-parents went through—if you think that you have made it, so to speak! You still have a long way to go. Help somebody! Leave a legacy of your works, faults and failures that others can remember, let you works leave footprints in the sand. So, before you take that next bit of “Barbecue”: Say your grace and be thankful that through God and family, extended family, villagers (it takes a whole village however). Pray! Now, let’s eat!  See the poem, Stay Connected by Dr. Joan Hillsman (Poetry, too, is one of my hobbies).