Family

Family is the only relationship I know that can sustain through tragedy, conflict, and all the other baggage that gets poured into it. My extended family may drive me crazy at times but I love them all dearly. We may fight one minute and laugh the next. We may go months without speaking and then talk every day for weeks on end.

As chaotic as it can be when we all get together, it is one of my favorite things. To be crowded in a house, sitting on top of each other, babies running, dogs barking, cutting in line when the food is ready, laughing at jokes, making fun of whoever just walked out of the room, gossiping about the next to come in, cousins chasing each other outside, playing games, eating good food, hugging hello and goodbye, smiling inside and out. That's my family and I couldn't be more blessed.

Today was one of those days....a time to come together and spend quality time. There was laughter, there was tears, there was excitement, and there was boredom...just another family day. Sure, there was reason to get together, as we were celebrating a birthday, but what I love about my family is that we gather like this on average ordinary day too.



"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." ~Erma Bombeck