Family time on holiday rewarding

I can say with all certainly that I have been blessed. I feel fortunate to be raised in an environment where little thought went into spending time in Mother Nature. As a youngster, I was drawn to the outdoors as peanut butter is to jelly.

I often snicker when present-day parents punish children by sending them outside. It was the exact opposite during my childhood days. I was out and about shortly after awakening. As a punishment for my wrongdoings, I was forced to come inside.

I also feel extremely fortunate to have been raised by two God-fearing parents who taught me and my sister the values of honesty, hard work and following our convictions despite others’ actions.

I am also grateful that I came from a tight-knit family — a group of loved ones, of most part, that were not judgmental. Those closest to me, who had the greatest influence on my life, not only taught unconditional love but demonstrated the concept.

I was also fortunate that we had little serious illness in our family throughout my childhood, although I was eventually forced to watch loved ones suffer through life-altering and eventually terminal ailments.

My grandmother was the matriarch of the family. I feared that the bond of this tight-knit group would subside when she died., and that our gatherings would lessen when we had to tell my mother good-bye.

That said, several of our cousins, spread out in three states, decided to spend at least one weekend a year together.

We dedicated the Memorial Day weekend for our annual meeting. We would gather and camp at a recreation area on Lake Ouachita. And for first three years everything went perfectly.

But after spending last summer between one group of campers who felt like everyone wanted to hear its music and another group who wanted to publicly air out its differences, we decided it was time for change.

I decided to focus on preparing a piece of property on my grandmother’s place. Preparation of the land would prove laborious. But the fruit of my labors would prove well worth every ounce of sweat that was shed.

Our meeting place would only be a stone’s throw from where we were taught the values of unconditional love. But we would also be privy to total privacy and the luxury of sharing our passion for the wonderful outdoors.

I managed to get the site prepared before the holiday. Local family members attended the outing, but we also savored the opportunity to enjoy fellowship with cousins and families from two neighboring states.

It was a weekend to remember. I’ll not soon forget watching the youngsters play together and become better acquainted. I watched them catch fish, swim and kayak in our pond. They played pitch, gravitated toward a large dirt pile and played tag till late into the night.

And then there was the pleasure of connecting with former playing companions I had grown to love. We cooked over an open fire, talked of the past and made new memories that we would all cherish for years to come.

It was hard to say good-bye as the holiday weekend neared its end. But my family member’s departures were somewhat easier to swallow, knowing they would return to this special location next year, where we would gather amid the wonderful outdoors.