Margaret Sadler | Editor-in-Chief , news & views , ARTA

Is yours a family that holds family reunions ? My husband ’ s family just held — after a COVID-induced hiatus — an eighth family reunion . His 96-year-old mother , having to stay home this time , wondered who would be there from the older generation . When we lined up from youngest to oldest on the first night , her son was very near the back of the line . Hey ! We ’ re not that old !

A cousin recalled a statistic he ’ d heard that people tend to think that those fifteen years younger than themselves are “ young ” and those fifteen years older are “ old .” Yup , we could look down the reunion lineup and see where the “ young ” people were .

We do tend to not feel our chronological age . Participants in a German Ageing Survey , which tracked adults across twenty-four years , felt on average 11.5 per cent younger than their chronological age . For example , a 70-year-old felt more like they were in their early 60s . Okay , I admit , I ’ d say I ’ m younger than that in my head . I might even stretch it a few decades . Even when I have an aching joint or two , I ’ ll immediately answer the “ How are you ?” social greeting with a happy “ Good !” The researchers call that the “ subjective rejuvenation ” effect .

Family stories abound at reunions — stories passed down from the older generations before us but also tales of the shenanigans that cousins got up to in their youth . At each reunion , we acknowledge life passages — “ hatchings , matchings , dispatchings ,” as one cousin labelled it . We mark the milestones of births and marriages since the last reunion and stop to honour those we ’ ve lost in that time . Imagining comes when we plan for the next

reunion , choosing a time in which to return to the homestead area .

The first of these particular family reunions was held in 1977 when the youngest two of Great- Grandfather Leonhardt ’ s children attended . Now , almost fifty years later , Maria and Valentine are long gone and even their branches weren ’ t represented this time . But some of Leonhardt ’ s great-greatgreat-grandchildren were in attendance . The 96-year-old who couldn ’ t attend this year made a heartfelt appeal that we continue the reunions : “ It ’ s important to know where you ’ ve come from ,” she said , adding , “— and to know where you ’ re going .” When it came to setting a date for the next reunion , the “ young ” cohort with active kids and aging parents and grandparents sighed tiredly and suggested another five-year gap . But then they did the math . Kids becoming teenagers and aging parents may better be gathered earlier than later .

We were happy to have a two-month-old at the head of the reunion line this year . Although she won ’ t remember this line-up , we do hope the 12-year-olds do and will happily join again with us who are “ old ” — all of us aged by the same number of years but there for the experience of being reminded where we ’ ve come from .

news & views AUTUMN 2023 | 9