Hold Fast to What Is Good

Denard and Elma Carawan, 1961. Middle Prong Rd. Photo courtesy Monica and James Roy Carawan

   The Carawan's are coming together on Saturday to celebrate family.  There will be plenty of parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended cousins, and cousins who are twice removed congregating at the Denard Carawan home place on Middle Prong Rd. Food, laughter and fellowship will abound.  But have you ever really thought about why families gather and celebrate each other?
     I don't know the history of when the Carawan's started getting together each summer.  It probably began way before my time but I do know that they have been gathering up Middle Prong Rd. for as long as I can remember.
     They gather at their ancestral home - the home of Denard Carawan, on land that was purchased more than a hundred years ago. On land that has been passed down thru generations and I hope will continue to be passed down.   It's home to them. It's a place that they always return to.
     The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been left a treasure.  I'm sure the land would be worth a little something if they ever sold it, but it's a different kind of treasure that I talk about.  They are family. They are bound by love. They are bound by their story.
    The biggest thing I love about this family gathering is that they continue to share dinner at the home place.  Dinner on the ground. Yes, if it rains, they'll either go to the church fellowship hall or over to Hobucken to the community center, but having their family reunion at their ancestral home makes it even more special.  Folks gathered on the porch, sitting in lawn chairs, chatting with each other, swatting away the flies is part of the story. 
     I miss families having their family reunions at home.  I understand the convenience of air-conditioning and facilities, but if it was good enough for our families in the past, why can't it still be good enough for us today?  By not continuing the traditions of our ancestors, we take another piece of history away from our children and grandchildren. 
     Denard Carawan's grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other young folks will get to experience what a real family gathering is all about.  Yes, they will probably complain, "it's hot" or" the mosquitoes are bad".  I challenge their parents to tell them like our parents told us, "go play", and turn away and keep on visiting.  The kids will find something to do - we did!
      Family gatherings remind us of what we have in common.  We also have an opportunity to learn from one another. Generations impact one another.  You hear stories you've never heard before.  Who would have known that a certain person had a certain brewing device located in back of the field.  Or who would have thought Denard Carawan's hogs took away baby bottles. Those stories bring out the character of a different time in life.  A time when "all was good with the world."  A time, when the Primitive Baptist Church just down on the corner was a big part of growing up on Middle Prong Rd.  and every other part of the Island.
     A family is a story.  It's a breathing, living, loving, working and dying story.  It has a million plot-twists.  Some of it is mystery, some of it is real.  Sometimes its dark and sometimes its a journey in light.
     So Carawan family, when you gather on Saturday, love each other. Be generous with food and memory. Do justice to the remarkable men and women who caused you to be there. Honor your cherished elders. Show faith in the next generation to keep your traditions alive. Show them where you came from because it will be much easier for them to understand how to walk their own path. Hold fast to what is good!

Carawan Grandchildren , circa 1970's. Photo courtesy Shawn Carawan

Photo courtesy Monica & James Roy Carawan

Photo courtesy Monica & James Roy Carawan