Karla Nelson Family | Reunion ^hot^

Perhaps the most poignant tradition is the Memory Jar. As guests arrive, they are handed slips of paper and pens. They are asked to write a favorite memory of Karla or a moment involving the family from the past year. Before the cake is cut, Karla sits and reads them aloud. It is a moment that invariably brings tears—some from laughter at recalling a disastrous camping trip, and others from the sheer weight of sentimentality.

A hired photographer captures formal individual and group portraits of the entire clan. karla nelson family reunion

Leon Ray Nelson. Check.

Arriving at the reunion is a sensory experience. The air smells of charcoal smoke and sweet tea. The sound is a cacophony of overlapping laughter, the sizzle of the grill, and the rhythmic splashing of cousins in the water. Perhaps the most poignant tradition is the Memory Jar