Written by Sara R.
As children get older, get their driver’s license, move out, and get married, family get-togethers are not as easy as they once were when all my children were younger and at home. It takes some planning, synchronizing of schedules and several weeks advance notice to get everyone in one place at the same time.
I’ve been very fortunate as we’ve already had three family gatherings so far this month. Our first get together was on June 1 in Columbus, Ohio at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at The Ohio State University to watch my 16-year-old daughter Taylor compete in the OHSAA State Track Meet. Her 4 x 400 meter girls relay team took 6th place in Division II for the State of Ohio. It was a very exciting time for all of us. My husband and I along with her big brother, who made the trip from Cleveland to Columbus, and her big sister, who lives in Columbus were all there. Her Grandma & Grandpa R. from Michigan also made the long journey to Columbus to watch and cheer her on. We are so very proud of her and her teammates!
On June 9 we were all together again to help celebrate my oldest son’s 21st birthday (hard to believe he’s 21!). It doesn’t seem that long ago when he crawled up on my hospital bed to peek at his new baby sister who was just born. He was really hoping for a baby brother.
I remember when he went back to pre-school the next day and his teacher said to him “I heard something exciting happened at your house yesterday, do you want to share it with the rest of the class?” “Yes,” Justin answered. “I threw up!” His teacher trying not to react to his statement said “I heard something really exciting happened yesterday.” Justin said “Yeah, I threw up twice!”
We were all together again Father’s Day weekend. This time it was for a whole weekend! Besides our four children, joining us was my son-in-law, my darling grandson and my husband’s mother and father. It was great to get all the fathers together to celebrate Father’s Day.
We all met in Port Clinton, Ohio on Friday night for dinner and spent the night. The guys got up bright and early, 5:30am, and went fishing on a boat they had chartered for the day. My youngest son, Christopher, proved to be quite the fisherman. He caught a 7lb, 24” Walleye. The ladies, along with my grandson, took the Jet Express to Put-in-Bay for some shopping, eating, good conversation and fun times.
Saturday evening we all drove back to Cleveland, Ohio and gathered again for dinner. As all eleven of us sat at the big round table. I remembered the days when my children were young and we would sit at the dinner table and just talk about anything and everything. Sometimes it would turn into a battle zone because one child was making a funny face at another, or someone was upset because “he was interrupting me when I’m trying to talk” or someone was spilling their milk or dropping food on the floor for the dogs to eat.
Sunday we enjoyed Marine Week in Cleveland. If you get the chance to attend one of these events I would highly recommend it. It’s a very moving experience.
It is so true when you hear someone say “enjoy your children when they’re young because before you know it they will be grown and gone.”
I feel very blessed each and every time we can all get together.
About Sara R.
Sara is a mother of four. She has two daughters – Jamie age 35 and Taylor age 16 – and two sons – Justin age 20 and Christopher age 14. She is also a grandmother of one – Andrew age 3. She lives in Mantua, Ohio with her husband Bill. She has worked at Step2 for the past 12 years (before that she was a stay at home mom for 9 years). Sara is the Operations Manager for Step2 Direct internet sales.
