Family Reunion

The First Ever Schatzki Family Reunion
When?
August 8, 2010
11AM until???
Where?
At the home of Nicholas, Debra, Rosanna, and William Schatzki
Bring memorabilia, pictures, stories, and family trees.
Food and beverage will be served all day.
Lodging is available nearby.
Bring bathing suits for the pool.

Ashleigh Brilliant says, "If you don't believe in ghosts, you've never been to a family reunion." How true! Old pictures and mementos are wonderful ways to remember those already gone, better yet are the memories and our reminiscences. The best, though, are how they live on within us. We are the products of our ancestors, from our mannerisms to how we walk and talk, to how we see the world and others. In turn, of course, we influence those who follow, thus keeping our ancestors, as well as ourselves, alive into the future. Who would any of us be without our families? "You don't choose your family," says Desmond Tutu. "They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

The Poonyarits and Schatzkis, formerly of Bangkok, Thailand and now of Easton, Pennsylvania, were informed of and invited to this great event, a "who-knows-when-it-will-happen-again" family reunion, hosted by Debra and Nick- my husband's first cousins, once removed. This provided a great opportunity, especially for our children to get to know their American relatives, and to learn more about their heritage on their father's side. Therefore, we were excited and looked forward to the get-together.

When we lived in Thailand, each year we either hosted or attended a family reunion for my maternal grandmother's side of the family. We called the event "Three Siblings," at which offspring of my grandmother, her eldest brother, and her youngest brother came together to catch up. Everyone would travel from everywhere to attend, and we often ended up with one hundred-fifty relatives (and growing).

When my husband and I got married in Bangkok years ago, my mother insisted on inviting only relatives. In an odd way, she was saying that should an extreme situation happen in life, relatives would be the only ones on which I could count; and, therefore, they should be included in my celebration. I assumed this meant I would have a cozy and small wedding. The reality was, since I was studying in the US up until the month of the wedding I had no say, and had to settle with letting my parents run the show.

The ceremony took all day, starting at the crack of dawn and ending at midnight. (For some who might want to ask, "What does midnight signify? Is this your tradition?" the answer is, no, I could end my party anytime I liked. In this case, it happened to be at midnight, okay?) Only close family members came early for the morning ceremony. Those more distantly related showed up around noon for the luncheon, and the evening reception was for all relatives from near and far. I thought I would get "less traffic" in the morning and more of a crowd would show up later. I was right that more did show up as time went by, but wrong about the number of close relatives who showed up in the morning. As early as nine o'clock there were more than a hundred relatives at our house (all dressed up beautifully in Thai traditional garments as my mother had dictated, oops, I mean, suggested.) My poor, freshly-wedded husband was overwhelmed very early, when at the morning blessing ceremony I whispered in his ear the name and relative ranking of each of my aunties and uncles as they came up to bless us. By the time the reception came to an end (yes, at midnight, and, it's only the time on the clock- not tradition-related whatsoever) we had close to four hundred relatives celebrating with Ralph and me. Many of my little aunties (this is how we Thai call our first, second, third, once removed, twice-or-three times is the charm-removed cousins) mentioned to my parents what a wonderful wedding they had given us, and how much fun they had in catching up with other relatives, and asked when the next family get-together would be. My parents chuckled and said that were they to wait for my younger sister to get married, they'd be waiting a long, really long time to have their next family reunion. Therefore, the annual "Three siblings" reunion started, along with the "Mega family" reunion which hosts close to a thousand members each year. -Well, six less, now that the formerly of Bangkok Poonyarits and Schatzkis have made Easton, Pennsylvania their new home.

Family is important. We are who we are because of them. I feel close to my family because everyone made it her business to stay in touch. My children grew up in Thailand and feel very close to their Thai relatives. Now that they live in the United States, I'd like this tradition to continue. Debra and Nick have started something beautiful and, maybe, one of these days, the Easton, PA Poonyarits and Schatzkis will have an opportunity to host a family reunion.

Please stay in touch!

I would like to dedicate a portion of The Family Room on La CoffeeMelodie Suite's Website to all our relatives. You will have a profile page that will share with us who you are and what you do. Our goal is to reach out to all family members and make connections, especially for the younger generations so they have a place where they can be connected to their heritage. Please use the form here to contact me. I will respond with information regarding what I need from you in order to introduce you to the family through the Website.

Please tell other family members to take part in this purpose.

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