Passages

This pilgrimage to the family's summer gathering has a melancholy beginning. A pilgrimage it is - it will take a week of driving and camping for me to get to this remote summer home on an island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A family gathering it is - all living members of Hatch Family generations three, four, and five will be present and accounted for, coming from far and wide. Melancholy it will be - once again. The history and strength of this family rests in this special place, where we grow up with grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, rising to the challenge of tradition - joining the other cousins on the overnight to a nearby island, after you have lost your first tooth, swimming the distance of the channel in that COLD water, catching your first "keeper" fish; the list goes on. However my two sisters and I, the third ,and now the "senior" generation, cannot return to the Island without memories of those that are missing - parents, aunts and uncles, husbands, and a beloved niece. Our lives were enriched by these family members, and the roles each played in weaving the fabric of our lives. The joy lies in the next generations, who are bringing energy and laughter to the gathering. So once again we make the pilgrimage - there are still memories to be made! Love Liz