Tonight I stood in an oblong circle of family holding hands and saying our family grace.
Divine lover, thou hast always met and will always meet each and every human need and we are truly grateful. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Fourteen of us were gathered at my oldest brother’s house to celebrate his birthday: eating, talking, laughing, sharing stories, taking photos, making new memories. As the year draws to a close and I wind down the end of this blog, I return to an oft-repeated theme–love and connection with family. The sounds of my siblings and their children laughing really is music to my ears.
Earlier this evening a number of us got involved in a heated conversation about a philosophical issue. I found myself in vehement disagreement with one of my siblings. Each of us were raising our voices and passionately arguing our positions, with various ones of us chiming in. At one point there were at least six of us arguing. Then to break the tension, someone said, “How about that football game last night?” We were temporarily distracted, but I think we felt a little bad. After a moment or two I found myself reaching out apologetically to my sib, who was also reaching back to me. There is, I believe, a quiet understanding between us that no philosophical argument is worth getting so heated about that we can’t quickly work our way back into good relationship. I am grateful to be in good relationship with the various members of my family.
I am enjoying the time I am able to spend with my nieces and nephews. The group that I am staying with are kids my kids grew up playing with. It is fun talking with them: one is out of college and now working at his alma mater, one is a senior in college and the third is a sophomore. Their parents raised them to work hard, respect their elders, and love family. It shows up in the way that they interact with me, their crazy auntie whom they only see once every six to 12 months or so. Interacting with them has been a lot of fun. I am looking forward to continuing to hang out with them as we engage in the traditional family game night and movie night over the next few days.
I have colleagues at work who are only children: one will spend the holiday hanging out with her parents and their friends in the retirement village and the other will hang out with aunties and cousins who are a bit like siblings but not quite. I have another colleague who is the youngest of eight children and a friend who is the oldest of seven. Given the various stories I hear from them, I am just fine being situated as a “middle child” in our group of six siblings. I have four siblings older than me and one younger, and I find that even as a middle child I have learned to find my place in the family, contributing where I can to the wellbeing of individuals and the collective. In the midst of holiday gatherings I am content simply to observe and take in the sights and sounds of family swirling all around me. These times are priceless and I am grateful for each one.
