I have become a broken record. Every day I am grateful for the same things. Perhaps after 527 days of writing I no longer have anything new to say. When I think about the things for which I am most grateful, I keep coming back to the same thing: the love of family and friends. While there are many other things for which I am grateful, my family ranks far above most of them. As the Christmas holiday draws closer I am thinking about my family members here and elsewhere. We are more scattered than we have been in a long time: my son is out in California, while my daughter, two of my sisters and I are in Maryland, my brothers and their families are in Indiana, and my eldest sister and her family are in Massachusetts.
I also find myself missing my parents, this is the third Christmas without my father and the 17th without my mother. They each in their own ways enjoyed the holidays but for them both being surrounded by family was important. I realize that some of the pangs I’ve been feeling are arising from my sense of incompleteness at not being together with all my family–my siblings and both of my children. At the same time I am grateful to have spent so many Christmases with all of my family together. Because we do not know what tomorrow brings, it is so important that we savor and treasure the times we spend in the company of much loved family and of friends who are as close as family.
The gift of technology means that I will be able to talk with my siblings and their families face to face, using some form of video chat. If I manage to set it up, we might all be able to connect at the same time–Jared in California, my brothers in Indiana and my sister and her family in Massachusetts with all of us here in Maryland. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pull it off, but it’s definitely worth trying.
I am grateful for the times I am spending with my sisters and my daughter this week. Even the pangs of missing folks are eased by the smiles and laughter of connecting with those who are near. I only have a few more days with Michal here before she heads back toward school. It’s been nice having her here and I miss her already. But I plan on thoroughly enjoying the next couple of days while she’s here. Yep, I might sound like a broken record when I write so frequently about how grateful I am for my family. But I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I weren’t writing about them. May they always remain at the top of my gratitude list. So be it!
