The First Time in a Long Time

My cousins had not all been in the same place in about fifteen years, and for my cousin Kimberly, it was her first time out of upstate New York. We gathered in Orlando, spilled out onto the beach, and did what families do when they finally find themselves in the same place again. The kids worked the sand and the waves with the focused energy that only belongs to children at the beach. The adults stood around grinning at each other like they couldn't quite believe everyone had actually showed up.

Christina, Kimberly, Stephanie, and I got a photo together in the backyard with a palm tree behind us. The whole group lined up by the van under the trees, sun-worn and happy. Someone drew in the wet sand the words we were all already carrying: We miss you Dillon. Kimberly's son had been killed in a car crash not long before, and his name in the sand said what the rest of the weekend didn't need to.

That is what a family reunion actually looks like. Not just the laughing and the chips and the straw hats and the waves. All of it together, the loss sitting right alongside the joy, everyone showing up anyway.