Tampa, FL
The Sunshine state started a family tradition that was
popular for so many years. Tampa, FL restarted the Mary Reddick Family Reunion
in late July of '95. I was 17 and I remember working a little summer
job. I remember saving up some money to go to the Family Reunion. I would take
off a couple of days from work. My mom and I flew to Tampa. My sweet aunt was
driving us around because we didn't know our way around Tampa. We enjoyed a
little bit of sightseeing of Busch Gardens which was wonderful! Events wound up
happening later than planned from what was on the program. To me it didn't
matter because I was getting to see family. A lot of the same family I remember
seeing when the family went to Florida in 1986 and 1990 were there.
I will
never forget the time when we all ate at the picnic. We were enjoying some
great grub that family cooked like Macaroni and cheese, collard greens,
barbecue ribs, fried chicken, and some delicious strawberry shortcake. I
remember my cousin had made this gigantic cake and the strawberries were on top
of the cake, while the whip cream had smothered the strawberries. I must have
had like seconds and thirds of the strawberry shortcake. I had also drunk a lot
of punch and I was enjoying time off from work and away from home.
Meanwhile,
the family was being recorded on TV and they asked every member to say
something about their family and tell where they are from. I remember my
younger cousins and I were at an arcade nearby and I missed that part of the
family reunion. I remember how disappointed I was that I had missed out. It had
dawned on me that I was being selfish; my family understood because when the
family went on vacation we needed to get away from stress of things that go on
back home. I had a time to reflect on that moment and was quiet most of the
family reunion.
I
remember when we were all sitting down eating breakfast and everyone was
looking at the photo album of past family reunions. My mom was saying how she
always wanted to go to the family reunions but couldn't afford to come back
then. I didn't realize how big my family is until I looked at the album. I
remember my aunts were talking about the previous family reunions, how everyone
came to them, and how really good they were. When I heard all of that, I wished
I could have been able to go to the family reunions back then.
Lastly,
before everyone went their separate ways and went back to their respective
places, the Sunshine state had an awards ceremony handing out various awards
for different things and then it came time to read the Mary Reddick family tree
book. Mary Reddick was an escaped slave, who freed all of the West Indians from
slavery. I learned that that was what family reunions were all about. It was
about learning all about your people. We all went to church and had an awesome
time! My cousin had hooked me up with like a couple of boxes of doughnuts that
I can remember and my mom and I brought some of the food they fixed for us to
take on the plane with us.
It have been a long time
since the last time I've been to the Sunshine state, 9 years to be exact. It
have also been 17 years since they started back the family reunion and it
was in Tampa, FL, too. I still remember how much fun that family reunion
was! Tampa is beautiful, it has a really nice beach where we had our
picnic; University of South Florida which we passed by when we stopped by
Walmart. I'm a big Tampa Bay Bucs fan and I have been a Bucs fan for 13 years
now. I've been following that team for quite a while now; we passed by Raymond
James Stadium where the Bucs play at.
I
can't begin to tell how much fun I had while I was in Tampa for those 3 days. I
had a chance to see my family who I haven't seen since I went to my cousin's
high school graduation which was back in '03. Unfortunately, one of my cousin's
passed away who had wanted to be so much a part of this family reunion.
Her daughter had a fish fry at my cousin's house. We were all thinking about
how important it is to spend time with family no matter if the family reunions
is only every 2 years and not every year because a lot can happen.
We
had my cousin's funeral at church which was not that far from her house where
the the fish fry was at. After the funeral service was over there was food.
Everything ran later than planned and that caused the banquet to be late. I
remember my mom prayed and we all read 1 Corinthians 13 the love
chapter together and that is the theme at our family reunions.
My cousin, who is a retired teacher, did an appreciation for all the high
school and college graduates. The family reunion had funds to give out scholarships
to all the graduates and encouraged all of us to continue to follow our dreams.
My mom mentioned to my cousin that I had graduated college and God used her to
bless me with a $100 scholarship. I was so grateful! I really enjoyed
spending time with family. I am glad I came to the family reunion. We voted on
where the next family reunion will be at and the majority voted for it to be in
Orlando, FL. In July of 2014 our family reunion will be in Orlando.
Lastly,
my niece's birthday is on the last day of the family reunion. As part of her
birthday celebration my brother and his family and me and along with some of my
cousins went bowling. Bowling was a lot of fun! Bowling was a last minute event
but it was for a special occasion. I had a chance to showcase some of my bowling
talent. I can still remember when I used to watch Professional Bowlers Tour on
ABC back in the 80's and how long it took me to be good at bowling. It was back
in elementary school from '87-'90 when I used to go bowling a lot, it took me
approximately 3 years until I became good at it.
