Friday, July 23rd
I will try and make this post shorter than the ramblings of yesterday, mainly because I have to get up tomorrow morning at 7 am to go horseback riding through the mountains. Yay! Also, you guys probably really don’t care about all the minute details that I seem to harp and hammer on, so brevity I shall seek to master.
The Porter Background
I realize I should probably give you guys a brief glimpse into the family dynamic of this reunion. I don’t have the time or patience to introduce you guys to everyone (I’m thinking about making Porter Playing Cards that could double as last minute flash card preps for the next reunion – but then I realized we have more than 52 people). That being said, while I can recognize most people now, there sometimes still exists that awkward greeting of “Oh it’s so good to see you…*check name tag* [name]!)
Everyone here at this reunion is the descendent of John Alexander Porter and Caroline Lee, my great grandparents. The coolest thing about this reunion is there are such vast age differences among people in the same generation. For instance I am in the same generation as a pair of grandparents. Weirddd.
But the current family patriarch of the family is Uncle Jack, my Dad’s cousin, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday and is very proud of the fact that he is now the oldest Porter to ever live. Personally, I think he has been hanging on primarily to spite Pap, my grandfather, who previously held the record. There are a multitude of generations present (I think four?) and it is very elder-oriented. That being said, this opens up the opportunity for many interesting stories and folk songs.The Porter family (and I use this term very loosely as very few of us actually retain the last name Porter) are a very diverse bunch hailing from all over the US and a few from England as well. However, we are very proud of our roots and the name Porter has been adopted by many as either first or middle names. This does make things mildly confusing, I will say. But all in all, I love my family and the fact that we all get together every 3 years or so to celebrate our family-ness.
Morning Meetings
We started off the morning with an hour long video of our family history that my Uncle Ben spent the last few years putting together. It traced our roots back to when we first came to America in the 1600s and went all the way up to the generation that we refer to as The First Cousins – or the grandchildren of Alex Porter and Carrie Lee. Hopefully, we will continue the video in the future to document the next generations.
The great thing about this video, in addition to the many photos, is that it had audio clips of many people when they were young who are now either deceased or in their 80s or 90s. It was fascinating. We even had silent film footage of a family wedding in 1924. I didn’t even know people even HAD access to personal video then.
The funny thing was, something about this video just got to me and I spent almost the entire hour, bawling my eyes out. I didn’t even KNOW most of these people but that didn’t stop me from sobbing from the many touching moments documented in this film. I tried to subtly hide the streaming tears (something that I doubt was very successful when I was sitting in the very front) but I soon gave up when I glanced around and realized that everyone else’s face was a mirror of mine. Haha my mom and I were a mess.
Game Time
After the video, and much chatting, we eventually mosy our way down to the field to participate in some family games. You know, some good ole family bonding time. And what better way to do this than by spending our morning competitively and creatively passing apples amongst ourselves using acrobatic and admittedly very awkward body positions?
See the pic? Case in point. Basically the goal of the game is to pass the fruit without using your hands. It got harder and harder and the apple did even up with several bite marks. But hey we’re all family so what’s a little germ sharing? Other games were played as well, but that one really brought our family’s competitive streak. Unfortunately, we didn’t get around to Human Croquet this year which is always a blast/disaster.
Afternoon Adventures
I spent the afternoon in the state of peaceful bliss as I napped most of the daylight hours away. However, other people were more fun than I as several hikes and excursions were taken. Now generally, as a principle, I pass on most hiking opportunities. I really don’t see the point in walking in circles just to end up back in the same place that you started. You can try and tell me it’s for the sight-seeing, but honestly, isn’t most of the time spent staring at the ground, making sure you don’t trip on that upcoming root? Yeahhhh, real fun. But others seemed to enjoy it, so I’m glad they had fun.
At 4:30, we had cocktail hour, and can I just say that this was the ONLY planned event so far that everyone has showed up to on time? Typical Scotch-Irish. The rule of thumb is that if you arrive within half an hour you are still on time, but heaven forbid you be late to the open bar. It became evident why, shortly thereafter, as we discovered that the best way (and really the only way) to deal with this much family…is with a few drinks warming our bellies.
Campfire Bonding
The evening was spend around the campfire, making s’mores, telling family stories, and singing the traditional family folk songs that we’ve been singing since 1930. To tell the truth, I believe most of them were Negro spirituals, but they were the songs we have been singing for generations. It was interesting getting to hear all the stories of how the older couples all met, too.
The only grievance I had with the whole affair (ok I had two), was the fact that it was so elder-driven that it ceased to be relevant to the younger crowd. I stayed, but a lot of the younger people peaced and went to play basketball or mini-golf. Even the songs we sang were only relevant to the older crowds and it would’ve been nice to introduce some newer songs, that probably more people actually knew the words too.
The other grievance is the fact that my father, aunt, and uncle, were left out of the generational story-telling. Everyone else of the First Cousin generation got to tell their spousal discovery stories (or if they were no longer with us, their children told it), but since my dad and his siblings were so much younger than their cousins, the elders completely forgot about them. Hmm, that was mildly insulting.
But the best part of the evening was the sunset. Isn’t it lovely?
Well, that’s all I got for you guys. Cross your fingers that I am not trampled by horses tomorrow. Over and out.
2 Response to “There’s uh sah-more on mah shoe"
hi! Thanks for the fascinating update. I was totally intrigued by the generationism (a real word?). I have seen age-ism, classism, etc., in these kinds of family gatherings, but not generationism. sorry it has a consequence for your dad, aunt, and uncle.
On a funnier note, intrigued to see that you continue your anti-hiking policy, even in the midst of the paradise-like Rockies. Haahaa.
The part about the video bringing tears to your eyes was incredibly touching, and I won't say.
Enjoy the paradise, and family bonding.
Ellen - 'Cousin' Keith here.
3 thoughts.
1. The proper spelling is "Sa Moe Ah". As a southerner yourself I'd think you'd know that. That said - darned great title for this post.
2. It never dawned on me that we had left your folks and Marion and John out of the stories. I think it would have been perfectly appropriate to say something - which as I type this - I think maybe you, or someone did. Agree - it was a miss. Maybe, instead of generational - it was an age 70 or above thing??
3. Thanks for the pictures and this blog. Your writing, and your picture titles, are really funny. Especially for a rambling teenager.
Post a Comment