family

So I've been thinking a lot about family recently. Specifically I've been wondering why it is that we only congregate as a family for either very auspicious occasions of celebration or when a death occurs. What happens in the time in between those occurrences? Why do our meetings convene on such extreme emotional occasions?
I remember when I was a little girl and my Grandmother was still alive, every Sunday the whole family used to get together at my Grandma's house. And I mean EVERY Sunday. We used to cook and have a huge family meal together. After we ate, we used to look forward to the 'family lottery.' I can't explain how excited my cousins and I used to get after dinner. Each family would put 20 pounds into the lottery and I was in charge of collecting it from each Uncle (There was a total of 5 Uncles). My brother was in charge of writing down everyone's name in the family (including the pets) and they would be put into a little crystal bowl. My cousin would then close his eyes and place his hand into the bowl. I would begin to get butterflies at this point. Then the winner's name would be announced! Every one usually applauded and the lucky winner would collect his/her 100 pounds earnings! It was such an exciting day for everyone and each member of the family would genuinely engage with each other. I miss those days. It is a shame we never carried on with that tradition after my Grandma passed away. I would like to do something similar when I have my own family one day.....something to think about.