Scotland and my Family Reunion

It is impossible for me to think about the annual Gatt family reunion without getting a little giddy with excitement.

Family is the best, and my Scottish fam - Gatt was Nana Hendry's maiden name and the common link to all of us in attendance - is the best of the best.

I don't see my cousins much, and I think we can all understand how life gets in the way of getting what we want. Hell, five of my cousins - spanning three generations - live minutes from my workplace and I've visited just once, so I am as guilty as anyone. So these reunions - and we are into our second decade now - are wonderful opportunities for us to get together.

And we do and from far and wide as well, though our international connections are mostly gone now.

The reunions used to be every two years at my cousin Steve's place in Lindsay, with the two year cycle created to accommodate the difficulties for family hailing from places as far away as Texas and even South Africa.

Then the party moved to my Auntie Jan's home in the Beach neighbourhood of Toronto and it morphed into an annual affair to recognize the fact that we are all getting older and the opportunities for us all to get together are dwindling rapidly.

Pennan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

The last two years the event has been in Orangeville; home of my cousin Christine and her husband Mike. They have a pool, a big backyard to throw the football around and plenty of shade for those so inclined.

The connection to all of us, as I mentioned, is my paternal grandmother, a strong and very awesome woman who hailed from the tiny and absolutely beautiful Scottish seaside village of Pennan, which is just 11 miles from Fraserburgh, a port city located on Scotland's broad shoulder and the place where she met my grandfather, (Al)Fred Hendry, and where my Dad and his sisters grew up.

Nana left us 30 years ago but her legacy lives on in these reunions.

We always have a fantastic time. Adrianne and her clan were dealing with a family crisis so they couldn't attend - get better soon Hope! - and Number 2 Son Cameron was working, so it was just Matt, Jacob and I from our side. But my cousins were there: Janice, Jill, both Steves, Christine, Ian and their families. My brother Craig and my lovely parents were there. My aunts Jan and Norma were in the house. And the adorable scene-stealer Addison was there as well.

White balloons released to honour the
lives of Chris and Kathy

But we weren't all there, as time and that bastard cancer catches up to everyone. We lost Auntie Chris  - the oldest one in the family - late last year and her daughter Kathleen, who lived in Seabrook, Texas with her husband Peter, died of lung cancer just this spring.

We gathered in the yard to release white balloons - one for everyone there - to honour Chris and Kathy.

It was a beautiful moment.

I miss them. Chris was in her 90s and always had a 'presence' at these affairs and I always looked forward to seeing Kathy and Peter. Kathy was the epitome of class and I could always talk beer with Peter, who loved his IPAs, with Stone IPA being his favourite.

Auntie Jan

A man after my own heart. Here's hoping Peter can come to a future reunion.

With Auntie Chris gone, the mantle of Matriarch of our family has fallen to my Auntie Jan, my Dad's older sister. Jan is 86 and a cancer survivor herself. She is also the very picture of dignity and one of the toughest women I know. She wears the title well.

With an entire generation of my family on the wrong side of 80, including Auntie Jan and my parents, making it to these reunions are that much more important to all of us.

Besides, Christine has a pool, which I used several times and unlike last year, I did not bring my phone with me for the swim.

She has that awesome back yard as well, and Matt and I did our usual routine with the football, which involves me running patterns, making circus catches (one, anyway) and trying not hurt my ancient body.

Brother Craig, cousin Steve and me

And there are the people here. As I said at the top, my family is the best of the best, and I spent some time chatting with my Aunt Norma about our family history.

I learnt about what life was like in Northeast Scotland during the Second World War, about my Great-Grandparents and how they spoiled (in 1940s terms) my Dad, and about the circumstances that led my Grandfather to give up a good job in Canada during the Depression and return to Scotland just as war was breaking out.

The stories we can all tell about family, huh?

Is it 2018 yet? 'Cause I'm ready to do this again. See you next year Christine!

Cheers!