Before I attended my father's family reunion, I came across Dana Gioia's "Reunion" through POETRY Magazine. (Gioia has become a recent favorite poet of mine, and Interrogations at Noon appeared in my Books of the Month: April 2013.)

"Reunion" resonates with me as my father is the youngest of eleven children. As a child, I counted it a great accomplishment when I could name all his siblings in birth order. I can identify all the second cousins by family groups, but classifying the third cousins may be beyond my mental prowess. Good thing my middle son, who has a penchant for memorizing names and dates, enjoys updating the family tree with me!