The Family Reunion

They were so happy to be unloading at the hotel finally. The more than 13-hour drive from their small town near Indianapolis, Indiana to Lexington, Nebraska had tired out absolutely everyone. Jeff and Gina had taken turns driving so they would not need to stop for a hotel until they reached Lexington late Friday night and everyone in the car was exhausted. Jeff went to check in to the hotel while Gina started getting Isabel and George ready to unload the car.

Once Jeff was back with the key cards everyone started taking their bags to the room. After three trips all the items were in the room ready to be there through Sunday night. With everyone too tired to even brush their teeth, Jeff and Gina took one bed and Isabel and George took the other. Everyone was asleep within 20 minutes of lying down.

Gina was the first to wake up Saturday morning, so she started unpacking everyone's clothes, toothbrushes, shoes, and electronics. Gina woke up Jeff to take a shower and get ready, and then she tickled the children awake. Isabel and George laughed and laughed as their mother tickle them and, of course, they tickled back. By the time Jeff was finished with his shower the kids were ready to get started also.

Samantha arrived at the hotel at 5:30 a.m. as she did each morning Tuesday through Saturday. Her first responsibility was to layout the breakfast which started for hotel guests at 6:00 o'clock. Even after working at the hotel for three years, Samantha was still surprised at how many people got up, ate breakfast, and were out of the hotel by 7:00 a.m.

As hotel guests checked out, Samantha would clean a couple of newly emptied rooms and then check back in the breakfast room to make sure the food was still stocked. Sometimes the guests who were eating when Samantha came in the room would stop her to ask questions about the area or simply to have someone to talk to and break up the monotony of their trip.

Gina, Jeff, and the kids were finally ready to face the day at 9:00 a.m., so they went downstairs to the breakfast room where they met a lovely woman restocking the food supply.

“I am so glad you are putting out fresh food,” said Gina. “We were on the road all day yesterday and are starving this morning. Thank you so much.”

Samantha turned away from her task and looked at the family getting ready to eat breakfast. Seeing a dad with the family still touched a nerve in Samantha’s heart after losing her husband, and father of her two daughters, three years ago in a bull riding accident. Samantha would never wish her fate upon someone else, however, it sometimes still hurt to see an intact family.

Samantha smiled at the woman and said, “My name is Samantha, please let me know if you need any other items this morning. I will be in the hallway with the maid service cleaning cart.

“My name is Gina, and this is my husband, Jeff. My little ones are Isabel and George. We are planning to go to the Museum of Military Vehicles after breakfast. Is the museum as close to this hotel as the GPS makes it seem?”

“Yes, the museum is approximately five blocks south of us. You could walk if you like. The museum opens at 10:00 a.m., so you can probably head over there as soon as you finish breakfast.” replied Samantha.

Samantha saw Gina and her family return to the hotel approximately two hours later. She waved at them as she took some towels into a room. As Samantha walked back out of the room, Gina stopped her to ask a question.

“We were planning to go to the swimming pool for the afternoon, however, when we arrived there, we discovered it is already closed for the season. Do you have any other ideas of what we could do for fun with a seven- and a nine-year-old in tow?” inquire Gina.

“There are a couple of playgrounds I take my younger daughter to in town occasionally. I will look up the addresses for you so you can check them out.” Samantha returned a few minutes later with the addresses for two local playgrounds and gave them to Gina. “Good luck with the playgrounds. I am pretty sure I will be gone by the time you come back, so I will say goodbye now.”

“Thank you for the help,” said Gina. “Perhaps we will get a chance to say goodbye when we leave Monday morning.”

“No,” said Samantha, “Sunday and Monday are my days off so you will miss me.”

“Well, have a great weekend, Samantha. I hope you enjoy your days off.” With those words, Gina and her family went back to their hotel room to freshen up. Gina told Isabel and George they could choose one of the fast-food restaurants in the area from which to pick up lunch and take it to eat at a playground. The children were so excited and could not wait to leave.

Sunday morning, Gina, Jeff, Isabel, and George ate breakfast at the hotel again and then everyone loaded into the car. The family would be traveling about an hour to a family reunion in an even smaller town. The children were excited because this was newly found family and they hoped to find new children to be their friends.

“Jennifer, Mariah, it is time to get up.” Samantha had let the girls sleep until 9:00 a.m., but now it was time to get ready to get on the road. “Brush your teeth, hop in the shower, and get dressed. We will eat breakfast on the road.” Samantha made three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grabbed some cheese sticks and water bottles, and packed them all into an insulated bag. “You girls have 30 minutes to get ready.” Samantha could hear her daughters stumbling around in their bedroom.

Thirty minutes later Samantha and the girls were in the car with the insulated bag full of breakfast, another insulated bag with a dish for a family potluck, and a feeling of gratitude that they would be able to visit family. As Samantha drove, all the women sang along with the radio and ate their breakfast to make the hourlong drive feels shorter.

When Samantha and the girls arrived at the location in the park for the family reunion, they started to help set up the tables and chairs. They left the insulated dish for the potluck in the car until it would be time to place the food on the buffet table for lunch. Once all the items were set up, the girls went to hang out at the playground and Samantha stayed by the tables to welcome new and returning guests.

Every year, Samantha and the other organizers of the Delbert Family Reunion planned for 200 attendees, and usually there were between 150 and the all-time record of 352 people present. The Delbert Family Reunion had been started more than 100 years ago so all the original organizing Delbert family had passed. Thanks to online genealogy programs it seemed like every year a new family would come representing a family branch that had moved far away from Nebraska many years before.

Jeff was driving from Lexington to the small town in which the family reunion would take place. Fortunately, the town had a population of approximately 1,000 people so finding the one park with a playground in town was very easy. It probably would have been just as easy without using GPS. Jeff and Gina got Isabel and George out of the car and walked to an area with tables and chairs and several people talking in a group. “Is this where we check in for the Delbert Family Reunion?” asked Gina.

Startled, Samantha turn around to face the familiar voice. “Gina, Jeff, what are you doing at my family reunion?”

“I learned several months ago while searching online it is our family too and when I looked for matching names on Facebook, I found the page with the family reunion information. It certainly is a small world, who would have guessed an employee at a random hotel in another state would be related to our family? I cannot wait to find out our connection.” Gina gushed.

After Samantha showed Gina and Jeff the book for signing in, she pointed to Jennifer and Mariah at the playground and said she would be happy to introduce the four children to each other. As the children became fast friends, Samantha, Gina, and Jeff sat at a table to get more acquainted. Samantha told Gina and Jeff she had married into the Delbert family, but her husband had passed away three years ago so their daughters were the actual Delbert bloodline members. “I became the Delbert Family Reunion vice president to help organize the annual event and am now attending every year to keep our daughters close to my husband's extended family.”

Gina explained they had come from Indiana to meet more of their family because neither she nor Jeff had any siblings and were looking forward to becoming part of a very large family. “We even found other family in Indiana we did not know about. I cannot wait to tell them what a wonderful group of people are meeting every year in Nebraska. I think several of them might come next year.”

“Everyone is always welcome,” said Samantha. “Let me introduce you around to the rest of your family.”