I believe that there has been somewhat of a shift in my family in the last 10 years or so as to where and when people gather to celebrate an occasion. My grandmother on my father's side was the stereotypical leader of holiday coordinating and planning for as long as I can remember. With what seemed like very little effort on her part we would arrive at our grandmother's house to what would be best described as a perfectly cleaned home and enough food to feed a small village. We seemed to have always had a very punctual family. I am not sure if they very punctual in reality or because when you came to my grandmother's house for a holiday, you had better be on time because she wasn't waiting on anyone.
I never knew how long it took my grandmother to plan, coordinate and pull off a holiday event like she did. I don't remember seeing her send letters or spend hours on the phone with other family members making decisions. I just know that we should up and everything was perfect. There is absolutely some validity to di Leonardo's article describing kin work and the head woman of a family. After my grandmother passed away just a little over five years ago, those duties have changed for my family members and also how we get together since she was unable to do the things that she used to do. I will try and compare and contrast my family as it is today with di Leonardo's stereotypical American home as she described it.
As I stated previously, my grandmother used to facilitate all holiday gatherings regarding my father's side of the family. Prior to her passing, her health declined so much that I would estimate that the last ten years or so holidays were moved to my mother's home. My brother and I are both divorced and we actually both have custody of our children. I have three children and my brother has two of his own. Neither of us, even when we were married, had wives that cared anything about taking the lead when it came t