My brother, Michael, just hosted the 7th annual cousin reunion in Houston, TX. We started in Houston and have since visited San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Columbus, and Baltimore. The older cousins (Me, Kat, Ailun, Millie, Howard, and Michael) pick a city in the summer months to get together. We started this when my nephew, Jonah, was born. Actually, the original cousin reunion was 1997 after Hong Kong became part of China and just before Princess Diana’s death.

Cousin reunion is a miniature version of our larger “X-mas family reunion.” It is a reason the older cousins get together mid-year; it pretty much consists of two to three days of playing games, telling stories, and eating lots of food. Now, the X-mas reunion is a much larger production lasting 5 or 6 days. In recent years, 30-35 family members get together. The last 2 years (and this coming X-mas) have been held at Oceanside, CA . We rent a 5 bedroom house on the beach. Except for an occasional meal at a restaurant or shopping at the outlet mall, the house tends to be the center point of the reunion. At any given time throughout the day, you can expect a board game or a Ma-jong game to be going on. There is always food on the center table. When the sun is shining, family members are taking a walk on the beach or playing sand volleyball (there is a court in the backyard). 

My grandmother, Wai-po, passed away about a year ago. She was the mother of the Hsia family consisting of 9 children, my uncles and aunts. We miss her very much, but the tradition will continue and her spirit will be with us forever. I can go on and on about the Hsia family, but I’ll save that for a different time.

I’ve attended the Cousin reunion for the past 7 years and the X-mas reunion 36 out of 38 years! Next year, I hope everyone will make it to my lakehouse in Indiana!

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