Why I Wanted This Reunion

A few years after my mom passed away in 1996, I decided that I wanted to organize a family reunion while my dad was still alive. Our family was spread out in different directions. A lot of my relatives on my mom’s side lived around Niagara Falls, Canada, while my dad, most of my sisters, and much of the rest of the family were in New England. We needed a place that was somewhere in the middle and also somewhere beautiful enough that people would want to make the trip.

Heart Lake and Adirondak Loj

We decided to hold the reunion at Adirondak Loj at Heart Lake, in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. It turned out to be perfect. There were several different ways for people to stay, which made it work for almost everyone. Some relatives stayed in the old-fashioned lodge, many of us camped, and Marty and I stayed in a rustic little cabin right in the middle of the campground because we were organizing the whole thing.

Everybody Had a Place

One of the best things about Heart Lake was that nobody had to do the trip exactly the same way. Some people could camp, some could stay in the lodge, and a few relatives stayed in Lake Placid, only about ten miles away, where they could have a hotel room and still join us for the activities around the lake. There were also lean-tos in the campground. Liz and all of her kids had one, and my cousin Laurie had one too. A lot of us would wander over to the lean-tos during the day and evening to hang out, socialize, and have campfires.

Big Fires, Barbecues, and the Canadians

Almost everybody came, including many of my relatives from Canada, my dad, most of my sisters, and Marty and me. We gathered around Heart Lake with big fires, barbecues, lots of laughing, and lots of fun from the Canadians. It was exactly the kind of reunion I had hoped for — informal, outdoors, relaxed, and full of people drifting between campsites, lean-tos, cabins, the lodge, and the lake.

The Last Time We Were All Together

I am so glad I got that reunion organized, because it turned out to be the last time we were almost all together. My mom had already passed away, and my dad passed away the following year. Because of that, these photos and memories mean even more to me now than they probably did at the time. At the time, it was just a wonderful family weekend in the Adirondacks. Looking back, it became one of those family moments that can never be repeated, but can always be remembered.