Reasons to celebrate

My parents didn’t live long enough to celebrate their 60th anniversary, which would be in late October of this year, but recently my husband and I attended that milestone celebration for my sister’s in-laws, Trudy and John Cain.

This happy family gathering took place on a recent Saturday at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage at their Gateway Hall. While several of the “grandchildren” took their children around the zoo to see the sights, many of the older two generations sat around and visited — an anniversary and family reunion all wrapped in one.

Everyone returned at the appointed time and we all enjoyed a delicious lunch delivered by Sourdough Mining Company and provided by the celebrating couple. Ribs, chicken, coleslaw, beans, corn fritters — the whole works. Family provided the drinks, watermelon, deserts, and paper products.

After lunch, my sister’s branch of the family provided two group participation songs as part of the entertainment with my brother-in-law playing his guitar. There were many grinning faces as grandchildren and great-grandchildren danced and sang to the music. There was also an activity table set up for the children as well as many toys. The 23 great-grandchildren ranged in age from 2 months to 11 years.

Next the couple of honor — the King and Queen for the day — sat in chairs and everyone gathered around for family photos to preserve the moment. It took several minutes to get 56 people arranged. Since Gary and I and my other sister didn’t need to be in the photo we came in handy as photographers.

When the invitation arrived for this event, I thought twice about going — after all we are only shirt-tail relatives. But then I decided I couldn’t pass up this happy occasion and would look at it as a family reunion of sorts. I got to visit with many nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews from Fairbanks, Cordova, Glennallen, and as far away as Albuquerque, New Mexico. I so appreciated my sister and her mother-in-law for including us in the festivities. It was very helpful, though, that all were required to wear nametags as Gary and I didn’t know half of the people attending. The numerous little one’s nametags also stated who they belonged to.

Both my sister’s and my first grandchildren were born in 2006. Now eight years later, she has nine including a set of 5-year-old twins. She has another grandbaby due in September as well as a set of fraternal twins expected in November. I have two grandchildren with no more on the horizon. Of course with her seven children, the odds are in her favor.

With my mom and dad gone, there is no draw to bring the whole family together anymore…even for high school graduations or weddings. I think we have now bumped down to the next generation for party celebration purposes. I’m afraid the only thing that might bring us together now is a funeral service for one of my siblings or me, of whom I’m the oldest — heavy thoughts. So rather than dwell on that, I’m happy to be included in a momentous occasion in my sister’s family.

Momentous it is! 60th anniversary celebrations will most likely become more rare as the future years roll on, especially when you consider the factors of a high divorce rate with baby boomers and poor health sometimes causing one or the other of a couple to bow out too early.

This past April, my husband and I were invited to a special dinner in Glennallen celebrating the 50th anniversary of the local radio station, KCAM. Back in 1972 when Gary was a young pup, he, another man, and two 14-year-old boys climbed the 297-foot tall radio tower two nights in a row, replacing the reflective tape as they climbed. They didn’t start work until the station signed off the air for the night at 11 p.m. Although we weren’t able to attend that 50th anniversary dinner, we do enjoy the commemorative coffee table book titled KCAM — Fifty Years of Broadcasting in the Copper River Valley.

Our anniversary celebrations are not over for 2014. In early August we plan to attend activities scheduled for the 60th anniversary of the Kenai Lake Baptist Church in Cooper Landing. We made lots of friends while living there for five years beginning in 1979 and still communicate with several. One of the church events is a target shoot at the Cooper Landing Gun Club. A non-church event is a Community Salmon Bake-Off at the Community Club building. No matter what the event or activity, we look forward to reuniting with friends we seldom see.

There are anniversary and reunion celebrations taking place all over Alaska any day of the week for numerous and varied reasons — wedding, church, business anniversaries and family, class, and organization reunions. Here’s to celebrating and making more memories.

Maraley McMichael is a longtime Mat-Su Valley writer and resident.