Posted By: emmaspirit on
My family reunited over Fourth of July weekend to celebrate Pop-Pop’s (my dad) 70th birthday. Seventeen Pryors from all across the country gathered together at my parent’s beautiful home on Sanibel Island on Florida’s west coast. My parents, three brothers and their families joined mine for 5 days of eating, laughing, swimming, kayaking, photo taking and story sharing of our past, present and what we each want for our future.
Since we hadn’t all been together in over 7 years, the occasion served as an interesting benchmark for how differently we all think about green today versus 7 years ago when I was first starting on my green path. I found that nearly every aspect of our weekend related somehow to our greener values and lifestyles.
- The fabulous Certaintees custom tee shirts I had produced for this special occasion were all organic. Lee Tracy, Artist and Founder of Certaintees, did a wonderful job with the special design and provided superb customer service. We made adult crew neck, women’s v-neck and children’s tees. To my delight, everyone loved them and wore this wearable art throughout the weekend.
- Most of the delicious food my mother prepared was organic. Organic hamburgers for the grill, organic green salad, fresh organic and local fruit, organic corn, milk and eggs and even organic coffee! And key lime pie with local limes from their key lime tree in the front yard.
- Our core family activities focused on enjoying the beautiful nature around us. Ten of us kayaked for hours one morning through the mangroves of Tarpon Bay part of Jay Norwood Ding Darling’s Natural Wildlife Refuge; a photographer took our group photo on the shell lined beach at sunset; we all enjoyed an evening boat cruise to play with and appreciate the local dolphins.
- The Sanibel summer sun is quite strong. We brought Dr. Hauschka’s powerful, holistic sunscreen, SPF 30 for Children and Sensitive Skin – a certified natural product made with organic plant oils and extracts. My young nieces and nephews slathered it on without fussing and without being told. That never would have happened when we were kids! In fact, my brothers and I were the only ones to get sunburned…
- One night, the little “no-see’ums” were out in force when we were on the beach waiting for the sun to set. Fortunately I had packed PatchCare – a box of 12 all natural, deet-free, very effective, mosquito repellent peel-stick patches. We quickly patched up and huddled together for maximum protection.
- As Dad’s birthday present, we gifted a set of special processional torches for his beloved local church, St. Michael and All Angels, in his name with an inscription. We thought it most fitting to give back to this special Sanibel Episcopal community that has brought him and my mother much joy and enlightenment.
- After church, a family trip to Noah’s Ark – the fabulous second hand store my mom managed for the church this past year. Everyone picked out one thing (a pair of shorts, a golf shirt, a Batman video, a china creamer, etc…) and I think the total bill was $38.
- And of course, no family reunion would be complete without the endless ‘recycled” stories of our youth, favorite Pop-Pop memories and 97 recycled photos on a custom DVD created by my sister-in-law.
Our reunion weekend wasn’t about being Green. It was about celebrating my Dad, reconnecting with each other and sharing with the youngest generation of Pryors what it means to be a part of our family. I loved how it was just natural to teach them how we care for ourselves and each other in organic ways while we appreciate our local community and the bountiful nature of our planet. The reunion became a remarkable, teachable moment for us all.
Mary Beth Gonzalez
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family, organic, reunion, sanibel, tee shirts