The Connection of Family

 

 

What do you write about when you are free falling from a wonderful weekend?  Wednesday arrived and writing has been the last thing on my mind.  For the first time in exactly a year, all four of my sweet, young adult offspring gathered under one roof for some time together.  I wonder if we could have packed any more into our days.  Traveling by plane, train and car, we had:

 

breakfast with grandparents,

laughter a plenty,

time seeing friends,

a bridal shower,

family pictures,

a fabulous dinner out,

a feverish sickness lingering for days,

a birthday celebration,

fun at a Rockies home-game win,

a BBQ,

uncontrollable giggling,

a trip to urgent care,

a movie or three,

car adventures down to Colorado Springs and up to Longmont,

a moment to build a porch swing,

off-roading in the mountains

and even more was squeezed in!

 

My heart rips out.  I watch the tears flow as they try to say goodbye.  They have spent the weekend reminiscing of childhood adventures and comparing adult life struggles.  They love each other.  This is the reason it is so difficult to leave again.  Each tear reveals the depth of their relationships with one another.  Despite the usual sibling irritations, my kids genuinely desire to connect and care for each other.  The miles of separation challenge them, but their hearts won’t give up.  Technology bridges the gap.  Facebook, Snapchat and Facetime allow them glimpses of the others’ daily lives.  However, nothing restores connection like hugs, giggles and messing around.

 

During the muddled years of parenting, we often wonder what kind of relationships our children will hold with one another.  Nobody sets out with the hopes for minimal poor contact and fractured relations.  Like many others, I tried and tried to explain how friends would come and go, but your siblings will be with you forever.  Thinking back, I worked diligently to help them value each other, cultivate their time together and truly enjoy one another.  Now, I see the beauty of their relationships blossoming.  My own tears well up.

 

What are your sibling relationships like?  I have one brother.  I cherish every moment we get to share and every conversation we have.  You have the opportunity to reach out—for no specific reason—and tell them how much you value them.  Take a moment today to call, text, Facetime or send a card.  You won’t regret it!