30 Years of Family Reunions in 300 Words
Summer is a good time to hold a family reunion. The weather is much nicer than it is during the winter, and this allows the event to be held outside. People tend to use their vacation days in the summer. What fun things will your next family reunion include? Try something new. Ask your family members to write about the reunion (and previous family reunions).
The Treasure Chest of Memories blog has a unique idea for people who attend a family reunion. Ask each person to write about it after the event is over. Those who have had several family reunions over the years could take things a step farther. Is it your family’s 30th reunion? Ask everyone to write about the past 30 years of reunions in 300 words.
How does this work? Start small. How many family reunions has your family had? Add a zero to the end of that number – and you have the number of words each person should write. The first writing experiments won’t require many words. That makes the act of writing less intimidating (and a lot of fun).
The results will sound like some hashtags you see on social media. At your very first reunion, you could hand out paper that says “#ReunionIn10Words”. People will immediately understand what you want them to do. You could get back writing that includes ten surnames from your family tree, or that lists ten emotions they felt while they were at the reunion.
Things get slightly more intense the more reunions you have. On your 10th family reunion, ask your relatives to write 100 words – not only about that year’s reunion – but also about all ten reunions. You could allow each relative to interpret this writing experiment in their own way. One person might write a paragraph with full sentences. Another might hand you a 100 word poem!
If you prefer, you could give your relatives a writing prompt to get them started on their 100 word writing project. Some good choices for that prompt include: “What I learned from Our Family Reunions”, or “Best Memory From a Family Reunion”.
When you reach your 20th family reunion, your family members will need to write 200 words. The 30th reunion will require a 300 word piece of writing. Make sure to gather up everyone’s writing so it can be shared with the whole family. Put it on a website that everyone can visit. Or, if you want to be fancy, you could self-publish a book that includes all the reunion writing.
Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:
* Get Your Kids Ready for a Family Reunion
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