family

Due to the Thanksgiving season that is now upon us, I have been thinking a lot about family--and the importance of good relationships between family. 

It's distressing that so many families nowadays are broken, fragmented, or lost. It's common to suffer divorces, unexpected death, estrangements, abuse. You name it, it's there--from minor disunity between siblings who can't get along to the more severe, emotional-damaging divorce proceedings.

It literally makes my heart ache when I hear friends talk about how their mother-in-law won't accept them, because she deems them unworthy of her child. Or how another friend, as an adult, can't decide which home to celebrate the holidays because one or the other of their divorced parents will act hurt or offended. Or how another friend has never met their aunt, uncle or cousins, because their parents have long given up on trying to get along with "that side" of the family. It's painful to think about. So why, you ask, am I talking about this?

Because it reminds me to be grateful to have the family that I do. I know I'm lucky to have parents who have been married for over 25 years and are still going strong. And grandparents with the same legacy, who love and respect their son and daughter-in-law. I'm lucky to have aunts and uncles who all get along and love each other. Who often gather together. So often, in fact, that I know each and every one of my 30-some-odd cousins, all the way down to the very youngest at 3 years old.

I'm grateful to know the peace you can feel in the middle of a chaotic family dinner, when you take just a moment to sit silently and watch the family interact: an aunt rolling her eyes exasperatedly and with a grin, because her five-year old decided to hate turkey today of all days; two siblings elbowing each other playfully for more room to eat; the cacophony of utensils clanking and several conversations going on all at once; and the 3-year-old who took advantage of the chaos and snuck away from the table to steal a piece of the pumpkin pie he's been begging for all afternoon.

Joy and contentment--that's what I feel when I think of family. I am lucky to have such a spectacular family. One that admittedly, on closer inspection, is not perfect. But when times get tough, we band together, forget our petty differences, and remember why it is so awesome that we are related.