MarkFord
Cousin Camp, 2023
I’m writing this at Club Med in Cancun, Mexico, where our extended family of 46 (including spouses) has gathered for our latest once-every-two-years “Cousin Camp.”
Here’s a photo of some of us climbing a nearby ruin:
We’ve been holding these family reunions for 30 years. Our first Cousin Camp was in Martha’s Vineyard. We (K’s and my siblings) were in our late 30s/ early 40s and our children were quite young. Today, it is our children that are in their late 30s/ early 40s and our grandchildren that are the young ones.
The original idea of having periodic family reunions was suggested to me by my brother-in-law. I liked it immediately because I had always rued the fact that I never knew my cousins. They all lived in Colorado, and traveling to Colorado was very much out of my parents’ budget (with 10 mouths to feed on an income of $14,000). So, my hope was that our kids and their cousins could grow up knowing one another, even if they lived in different locations.
The usual time slot for Cousin Camp is the second week of August. Since the first one on Martha’s Vineyard, it’s been held at a Club Med in Colorado, on a cruise ship to Alaska, in one of the Disney villages in Orlando, on a boat in Croatia, and at Rancho Santana in Nicaragua (twice). We’ve also been on two adventure trips – one in Canada and another in the Rocky Mountains.
The trips themselves have been interesting and enjoyable. But the best thing about these reunions is the fulfillment of the original idea. Our children have close and comfortable relationships with 15 or so cousins. They have the kind of relaxed and intimate friendships that come only when people are able to grow up together.
I have done all sorts of things in my life. And I’ve accomplished all sorts of personal goals. But there is nothing I’ve done that gives me more satisfaction than watching the casual affection these young people have for one another.
