Reunions: Good or Bad?

We arrived home Thursday evening, quite tired to say the least! We traveled 8 hours today and that mad for a long and tiring day for us. The thoughts of having to unload everything makes the body even more tired feeling. Actually, we don't unload everything, just the food in the fridge, any perishables in the cabinet, and dirty clothes (although I try to keep everything washed up since we do have a washer/dryer in the RV, we did have the most recent worn clothes and the dirty linens. We always change the sheets to prepare for the next trip).
What great excitement was felt by Don and me when our children and grandchildren began arriving! Our oldest daughter and youngest son spent the weekend with us while our youngest daughter and family who live near-by were in and out.
Yesterday, we spent several hours at a memorial service for Don's sister-in-law. It was a sad occasion. It was good for Don to be able to spend some time with his brother and sisters, nieces and nephew, cousins and childhood friends. So often, suffering a loss brings the family back together. Everyone is just so busy it seems and reunions don't seem to be as popular as they once were. Perhaps we are remembering how much we hated those yearly events and how we begged our parents to leave us at home or with our friends. I think some folks actually made the comment that when they grew up and were able to make their own decisions, they would never ever attend another reunion. I have found though, that, once you arrive and get over the feeling of having to be present, reunions can actually be enjoyable. They are like everything else: it's all in the mind and how you have convinced yourself to react to the situations.