National Visit Your Relatives Day is a holiday observed annually on May 18th that encourages everyone to go out and drop by their relatives’ homes. Since May isn’t a month with any major holidays, many people have probably not visited a relative’s home in a while, and this day is the perfect opportunity to rectify that.

This day should serve as a reminder that life is short and that we sometimes need to reconnect with the people we love. We know life is busy, but sometimes you have to take time out to hang with family.

Amazing Facts About Families

We thought we’d take a few moments to talk about the heart of this holiday: the family. Because all of us come from families, we feel that we know everything there is to know about them, but we have to disagree. Below are some points about families that we think most people aren’t aware of.

• Until the 17th century, ‘family’ not only included relatives but also the servants of a household.
• As of 2020, an American woman will have approximately 1.9 children over the course of her life.
• In 1960, the average American woman would have approximately 3.7 children over the course of her life.
• In 1980, just 7% of U.S. marriages were between spouses of different races or ethnicities.
• In 2010, 15% of U.S. marriages were between spouses of different races or ethnicities.

Observing National Visit Your Relatives Day

The only way to observe this holiday is to spend some time with your relatives. It can be with relatives you haven’t seen in a while or with relatives you see on a regular basis—it’s up to you. It’s also a good day to give a shout-out to relatives who live across the country or across the world. This can be easily done using the hashtag #VisitYourRelativesDay.