June 21st not only meant the start of summer, it meant that the family reunion was around a week away. My family always picked the last Sunday in June. It’s when we would come together at a State Park that was centered between a bunch of us coming from six different cities. It was a great time to be had by all and a chance to catch up with everyone. We would all bring a dish to pass and either a snack or dessert, along with whatever kind of refreshments you wanted. My uncle Joey would always get hooked up with a butcher who would cut and trim some great steaks for everyone, usually about fifty. We would all pitch in and cover the cost depending on the number of steaks for each family. My cousin Tony and I would get to the park around noon, about an hour early and get the charcoal grills lite. As my wife and I packed the car Saturday night I checked the weather for Sunday. It looked perfect, sunny in the low 80’s. We always brought any kind of ball you could think of, bats, gloves and of course the bocce set. We were up early and my wife and our three kids were on the road at about 10. It worked out that we all had about a two-hour drive. Traffic was good for a Sunday, and we arrived a little before noon. Tony was just arriving with his family. After exchanging hugs and kisses we started setting up the grills. Other cousins started showing up including cousin Jason and his family. He made the best homemade bread. By 12:30 half the group had arrived. Joey would show up a little before one with the steaks. By then the grills were hot and ready to go. I saw that I had missed a call from Uncle Joey; I figured he was giving me an ETA. I phoned him back and when he answered I said boy these grills are anxious to have some good steaks thrown on them. But his tone was not good.  He said hey Emilio I got bad news my car broke down on my way to the butchers. I’ve tried to get help and a wrecker; it just won’t start. I’ve called the butcher and he closed at noon. I’ve tried his number but no answer. I feel terrible and just not sure what to do. I told him not to worry and just take care of his family and be safe and keep us posted. I found while on my call with Uncle Joey I had wandered away from our picnic area and had passed a couple of other single families. As I stood looking back at all our family members laughing and having fun together, I tried to think of any options. Not being familiar with the area, I thought I would ask some of the others I had passed while on the phone with Uncle Joey. The first group was around ten folks. I tried to identify the dad or grandpa to ask if there were any fast-food restaurants in the area. I thought of locating a McDonald’s or Burger King, a place I could purchase a bunch of burgers. The first group was not from the area either but said they has passed a Wendy’s about eight miles back. I thanked him and went onto the next group. I remembered passing them while on the phone with Uncle Joey, and thinking as this guy was unloading his trunk, who was going to play with all the sports equipment?  His trunk was packed with it. Maybe like us, they had a bunch of family coming. The three of them were sitting around a picnic table when I approached and I asked if they knew of any fast-food restaurants close by. The Dad looked at me and mentioned the same Wendy’s the previous folks had mentioned. I thanked them and as I was about to move on, he said if you don’t mind me asking why, I noticed you seem to be a little upset. I explained the situation and said the only option I could think of was trying to buy lots of hamburgers. He looked over at his wife and then son and went onto to tell me that the town of Oxford which they had come from, had a Meat shop that had just closed on Friday. They held a raffle for the community, and his family had one the grand prize. A side of beef that had at least fifty steaks. He said he would be happy to share those with us. I congratulated them and said unfortunately I needed them now. Looking at my watch, it was just before One. He said he had the steaks with him and would be glad to let us have them. He said they cost him nothing and he wanted to donate them to our family celebration. As I looked back at his vehicle, I thought where did he have them? He would have needed two or three coolers. We went over to his car, and he started to open the trunk. I didn’t want to be rude and say all you have back here are sports equipment. As the trunk opened my chin hit the ground as there were two large coolers full of meat. He counted out fifty steaks and he and his son and I transported them over to where our family was. By then everyone was asking what was going on and why we were carrying this meat. I invited them to join us, but they said they needed to head back to Oxford. We got the steaks on the grill and went on to have a great meal and day. Uncle Joey made it around 2:30 as the wrecker had gotten the car started. As usual I ate way too much, Cousin Melissa’s desserts were world famous. On the drive home I couldn’t help but think of the generosity of those people. By the time I remembered, it was too late to get their name. I just know the dad went by Joe. The following Monday at work our family was busy still texting back and forth about how much fun they had. Everyone had also commented on those being the best steaks ever. No offense Uncle Joey. I started thinking about the Meat/Deli that Joe said had closed. Had they moved to a new location or maybe a new name. I looked up the town of Oxford and no Meat or Deli came up. That was strange maybe because they just closed? I searched history back a year, five years, ten years and still nothing. I then tried their city hall. A very nice elderly lady answered, her name was Leona, I asked about any meat or deli shops that had been opened in past years. She went on to say she remembered a Meat shop as a child growing up, I think the name was HF meats, that was about 70 years ago. She went on to reminisce, remembering going with her dad. They were always so nice, and they had a young boy about my age. I thought he was so cute. She said the only way to get the history of the town was to come in and go through the old files. I took off Thursday of that week and met Leona at city hall. She brought out some of the books that were 50-75 old from the town. I was impressed with the history and details from them. Most of the businesses back then were family run and had a picture of the family outside. After about 45 minutes a picture caught my eye from 1942. It was Joe, his wife and son standing outside a small building. The thing was they looked the same as they did when we met at the park. How could this be? Above their head was posted the business name, HF Meats and Deli just as Leona had remembered. I must have appeared dumbfounded to her. I asked her if she had any idea what HF stood for. I went on to say that the father in the pictures name was Joe. Maybe his father's name was Hank or Harold, and their last name started with an F. I continued to look through documentation with Leona’s help. We eventually came across a document for a business registration from 1942. It included the unabbreviated name. I just stood there and glared at the HF in disbelief, reading that it stood for "Holy Family".

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our Family Reunion
Dedicated to my family