Most reunions are organized by women, partly because reunion planning, like making Thanksgiving dinner and wrapping Christmas presents, has long been considered women's work. But we live on different sides of the country, are busy people and all have our own ideas about where to meet. So organizing one of these events is no picnic, as I found out in July when I got part of my family together for a week in Maui. We had a great time, but I was glad to go off duty once I got home. But these days, cousins don't often run in packs.
Family reunions give kids that experience.
The study also found that most reunions are organized by women, partly because reunion planning, like making Thanksgiving dinner and wrapping Christmas presents, has long been considered women's work. Edith Wagner, the editor of Reunions magazine, tells a story about a family patriarch who noticed that his wife and daughters were doing all the work during a big get-together. Wagner says it's the rare group that has enough money for a cruise, though cruising remains almost everybody's reunion dream. Family camps like Estes Park Center and Snow Mountain Ranch, both in Colorado and both run by the YMCA of the Rockies, are more affordable reunion destinations, with accommodations in cabins or lodges, meal plans, outdoorsy activities, day camp for the kids and a staff well versed in making family get-togethers fun. For all these reasons, Estes Park Center and Snow Mountain Ranch are two of the most popular spots in the country for family reunions.