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Well, the family reunion was not exactly what I had in mind, but I'm glad that I went. It was fun, relaxing, and informative -- and the food was great! All in all, a very pleasant weekend.

Some family members, with whom I've become better acquainted through past reunions, weren't there. The get-togethers which I've attended before were "Roggeman" family reunions, this one was for the "alessandrini" family. This distinction was made clear to me on the drive to Michigan.

Alessandrini was my grandmother Julia's maiden-name. Although I have a sketchy knowledge of my genealogy, I have always been more familiar with the Roggeman faction, and until now haven't really separated the two lines.

Julie and I drove to Phelps, where we then traveled the rest of the way with my parents. On the way Dad clarified the scope of the reunion for me.

We stopped off in Florence, Wisconsin, where Uncle Kenny (Dad's brother) has a summer cottage. We had a couple of beers and visited with him and his family. It was the first time I was able to see his northwoods property, and even though it meant that I wouldn't have time for a nap at the hotel, I'm glad Dad took us on this unexpected excursion.

After checking into the hotel we had an hour or so to catch up with Auntie Betty (Dad's sister) and her family from the Milwaukee area who were staying at the same hotel as us -- this of course over a couple of cold ones by the pool.

Then it was time to get dressed for the main event. The primary reason for the gathering of this the Italian branch of my father's pedigree, was the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Mike and Virginia Alessandrini (my grandmother's brother and his wife.)

It was very hot and humid -- muggy -- outside and the air- conditioned reception hall was quite refreshing. Even so, by the time Julie got us signed in and our name-tags stuck to our chests, I was getting pretty tired. I had to work the previous night and only got a couple of hours of sleep. Only one thing to do: Drink more beer.

Then it was time to eat. An Italian feast! As we went down the line Julie told me as best she could about each dish and filled my plate with three or four different kinds of home-made ravioli, stuffed cabbage, plenta (boiled cornmeal) and gravy, and some kind of shrimp salad.

There were some of those disposable cameras on the tables for the guest to take pictures of each other for the guests of honor. The first thing I did upon returning to my table was to take a picture of my meal. And what a meal it was ... it was so good that I forgot to leave room for more beer!

Smoking was not allowed in the hall, and it was illegal to take an alcoholic drink outside. Too full for beer, a group of us went outside for cigars -- even Julie had one!

By this time, I was extremely tired so I decided to try to catch a quick nap in the car. Big mistake. It was too hot. The car was a sauna! My brain felt a bit cooked for a while there but I later caught my "second wind" and ended up drinking beer by the pool at the hotel into the wee hours; catching up on the family gossip; and attempting to throw quarters into the pool for the kids to dive after.

Drinking my coffee on Sunday morning (the 13th) in the parking lot, the day promised to be a real scorcher. We had a picnic at a park by a lake where the light breeze off the lake was just the ticket after the sweltering heat outside the hotel.

When we got to the park, they were heating up the left-overs from the previous night's bounty and firing up the grill for hamburgers. Oh yes, and the beer was on ice, tapped and ready too.

Now it's back to the darkness of the night-shift for another week ... then I get a week off!