"When you see the beloved all around you, everyone is family and everywhere is love." ~ Ram Dass
Well, it’s come and gone! After months of planning and speculating whether we’d even be able to pull this off in the vestiges of Covid, the Barringer Family Reunion was successfully executed this past weekend. Over 40 offspring and partners of Walter & Helen Barringer (my grandparents) descended upon the outer reaches of Casco Bay, Maine for a weekend of reconnection, storytelling, family trivia, and the awarding of the infamous Marion Silva Memorial Trophy! After years of not being able to gather, it was truly heartwarming to see everyone and reconnect to the bonds that tie us together throughout a lifetime. We’ve all gotten older, but perhaps a little wiser, softer, and more forgiving (you can leave Charlestown, but it never leaves you). It was also wonderful to see the next generations making and forming their own connections. Ram Dass also said, “If you think your enlightened go spend a week with your family!” Our family is our most significant teacher! We see ourselves in their eyes, and they in ours. This is not always easy, as we can all attest. It is how we handle our schisms and disagreements, with as much grace as we can muster, that marks our evolution. I am truly and deeply grateful for my family, without whom and their support I would not be the person I am today, and not have had the courage to venture on my own path. As I mentioned in my previous newsletter, we all need family, somehow. How we find, cultivate, nurture, and learn from it, is perhaps the greatest endeavor of our life. Much love to all. Always, Greg
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