As biological family goes, mine is rather small. A small nucleus comprising of a mother, two half-sisters, two nephews and a niece. Oh and half-brother that is estranged, so technically he doesn't rate a bleep on my radar, and that's cool. I met him once as an adult two years ago, my curiosity was over.
My sisters have a larger family, their father is still alive and married again, and there are step sisters and/or brothers. Their husbands also have families and with those come obligations and duties. Holidays are hard because of that, they have to determine which pull is the strongest. My oldest sister has two boys, who have no less than 6 grandparents. 6 grandparents! 5 sets of family who I'm sure would all love to have their grand kids with them. I grew up with 1 grandmother. The end. I have one surviving parent and none on my husbands side. And we have no kids. Basically it shakes down to Mom and myself as biological family celebrating together and it's been that way for a long time. Once upon a time, it made me very sad. As I get older and families become bigger and more complicated, I'm not as sad, I wish we all lived close by but we don't. My middle sister lives in the next state and has begun to visit us more frequently throughout the year, thus they are essentially off the hook. My oldest sister and I IM frequently and of course read each other's blogs. It's a virtual hanging out together. I like seeing her name on my buddy list when I am online which is always, because she is just a click away. I can whine, or be silly or just say hey. It's comforting. Yesterday, I got a really sweet e-mail from her that made my whole day. She's not a sappy woman and doesn't really do "cute" or "sweet". Which isn't to say she isn't sweet because she is .
As Thanksgiving grows closer, I will miss everybody a little more. But the ties will still bind us and when the holidays settle down we can all get back to our normal routines. My oldest sister will again be a click away and my middle sister will be down with her family sooner or later, and we will have time to catch up.
So for now, Christmas will be small but filled with love instead of scads of presents, and that is perfectly okay with me. Mom and I will go to Europe without my sisters because we have the freedom to do so, but it doesn't mean we won't be wishing that they were going with us. Maybe some day when we all grow up, we will all be able to.
My sisters have a larger family, their father is still alive and married again, and there are step sisters and/or brothers. Their husbands also have families and with those come obligations and duties. Holidays are hard because of that, they have to determine which pull is the strongest. My oldest sister has two boys, who have no less than 6 grandparents. 6 grandparents! 5 sets of family who I'm sure would all love to have their grand kids with them. I grew up with 1 grandmother. The end. I have one surviving parent and none on my husbands side. And we have no kids. Basically it shakes down to Mom and myself as biological family celebrating together and it's been that way for a long time. Once upon a time, it made me very sad. As I get older and families become bigger and more complicated, I'm not as sad, I wish we all lived close by but we don't. My middle sister lives in the next state and has begun to visit us more frequently throughout the year, thus they are essentially off the hook. My oldest sister and I IM frequently and of course read each other's blogs. It's a virtual hanging out together. I like seeing her name on my buddy list when I am online which is always, because she is just a click away. I can whine, or be silly or just say hey. It's comforting. Yesterday, I got a really sweet e-mail from her that made my whole day. She's not a sappy woman and doesn't really do "cute" or "sweet". Which isn't to say she isn't sweet because she is .
As Thanksgiving grows closer, I will miss everybody a little more. But the ties will still bind us and when the holidays settle down we can all get back to our normal routines. My oldest sister will again be a click away and my middle sister will be down with her family sooner or later, and we will have time to catch up.
So for now, Christmas will be small but filled with love instead of scads of presents, and that is perfectly okay with me. Mom and I will go to Europe without my sisters because we have the freedom to do so, but it doesn't mean we won't be wishing that they were going with us. Maybe some day when we all grow up, we will all be able to.
2 comments:
I'm glad to add some happiness into your life. You deserve it. And if you get really low, I'll ship your youngest nephew to you. He's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
Will post Halloween photos tonight or tomorrow.
i love my family. i love going home. i haven't been there since christmas last year and if i think about too long i'll cry and then i think about everyone getting married and having babies and then i look at myself and all i see is a 32/ 13 yr. old at camp that still fights with her friends and has a new best friend every other week.
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