Family Reunion

Had I not
Broken the ice
By making that call
To my mother,
The family reunion
We later had
Would never
Have materialized.
Other than my father,
Who had died
A sad and lonely
Old man
Many years before,
We were all there;
My mother
And her husband,
My sister
And my brothers
Along with our kids.
It was the first time
Our family had ever
Really been united.
I wish my wife, Cecilia,
Could have seen it.
It would have made
Her very happy.
It was a revelation
To discover how much
We all had in common
In spite of
The radically different roads.
Each of us had taken in life.
There we were
Enjoying our kinship
And wearing it with pride.
Who would have
Believed it possible
Only a short time before?