Family History

Today I’m flying home to Pittsburgh for my family’s annual Family Retreat. Every year, from the time I turned 18, I have attended the family meetings/retreat, typically on the 3rd weekend in June.

I will admit that there were years that I dreaded the prospect that I “had” to go home. For instance- when, as it often does, my birthday falls over a family weekend. Or when I was ensconced in work, and felt it wasn’t very timely. But, every year, as soon as I’m surrounded by my family, it suddenly is completely worth the time and effort.

You don’t get to choose your family. Inevitably, there are going to be people you don’t get along with, or moments when you want to rip your hair out. And in a family enterprise. you are forced to work along side people you may otherwise not want to spend ample time with; however, bridging that gap makes for the most wonderful stories.

Understanding family history is one of the best ways to inform the future. Because I’m the in the 4th generation of my family, I never knew the wealth generators, or in our case, the four brothers, who would start a legacy that I hope continues to eternity. Telling their stories is as important as anything else if we hope to understand where we came from, and why we’re still together. This year, we’ll be creating a lasting “Family History Timeline” that will recount all of the major moments of our shared history, and will be added to each year to come.

And so, I look forward to this weekend with my grandparents, parents, cousins, and siblings. And I look forward to creating new and lasting memories and stories, because I know that 100 years from now, there will be further generations talking about what we did to continue the legacy started over 100 years ago.