Where do we start….?

After my dad passed, the cracks in our family became hard to ignore. He was the one who kept everybody together, the one who called around and made sure we all showed up, and once he was gone, the things we had never really dealt with started coming up on their own. The phone calls slowed down, the gatherings stopped, and before long the closeness we used to have felt more like something we remembered than something we had. I'll be honest, I let it slip too.

For a while I thought that was just our family's story, but the more people I talked to, the more I heard the same thing. "We don't get together anymore because Auntie, Grandma, Mom, Grandpa, who kept us together, is now gone." When that person passes, a lot of families lose the gathering along with them, and the younger generations grow up without really knowing their cousins, their history, or where they come from.

I realize those reunions were the core of black family pride and strength, the kind we used to have when family really felt like family.

So I started The Kin Connection with restoration in mind. We do plan the reunion, but my hope is for it to mean more than a cookout and matching T-shirts. I see the gathering as the place where reconnecting can begin in a greater way. What I want for the families I work with goes beyond one weekend. I want to help you remember who you are as a family, to give you space to laugh and cry and forgive, and to help you build something you can intentionally pass down to the people coming after you.

Legacy looks different in every family, and part of my work is helping you figure out what it means for yours and then how to live it out. I really believe we can be the generation that breaks old patterns, honors the people who came before us, and starts something new and builds solid futures.

Your family has a story worth telling, and I would love to help you tell it.

With nothing but love,
Jeneen