LRS 2009

We attended the 18th annual LRS this past weekend. Now, you have probably never heard about the LRS, but for some (well 10) it's an annual event that we really look forward to. Sandie's sister Susie lives in Kentucky and their parents live in Pittsburgh. Each fall we gather for a weekend of camping. This event began in October of 1992. Sandie and I got married that summer as did Susie and Tim Stombaugh. Their family is pretty close and we realized that if we didn't intentionally make sacrifices to be together, the family could be reduced to just gathering on major holidays. So, we met and camped in Ohio, our central state. We had so much fun that we did it again in '93. That was great so we continued in '94 and '95 and every year since. (I think we have camped in every state park in the Columbus area.) This has since grown as we have added kids and the weekend has now been moved from October to Labor Day in order to take advantage of an extra day. (It's also a bit warmer) We have a great time as we usually bike, kayak, visit some cool sites, for some reason we always visit a dam, and we eat some amazing food. The weekend got is name LRS from the three last name. Sandie's parents last name is Long, we are of course Rohlins and the Kentucky people are Stombaughs.

There is a point to this post. I hear people complain about their family and how they never do anything special or that they have no traditions. Well, gather the family together and decide to do something. As you all enjoy it, it will be special. Do it again next year and it may be extra special. If you do it again it will become a tradition that will leave memories for a lifetime.

As you make traditions, I encourage you to do things to anticipate the event. Have some fun aspects that make it bigger that it actually is. (ex. have shirts made up, or have a website) Retell stories of the previous years. Give each person involved jobs. They can be anything and any age can be involved. Even make silly things traditions. Those things go a long way in making gatherings memorable.

So, gather the family together and make some traditions. Before you know it, you might just have 18 years of the LRS under your belt.