I am blessed with an amazing, if unconventional, family. Unconventional in that, despite all the wonderful things my parents did for us, not a one of my siblings or I has had a conventional path towards replicating a "traditional" family structure (i.e. married with 2.5 children) ourselves.
My older brother came the closest, but passed away when my nephew was only 6 months old and he never got to meet his beautiful daughter who was born 7 months after his sudden passing. Clearly, we have been trying but despite our best efforts maintain the status of married without children. My younger brother seems destined to be the eternal bachelor and my younger sister will live with my parents until she comes to live with us when my parents are no longer able to look after her. \
Interestingly on my dad's side of the family are similar nontraditional family structures (only one of my 6 cousins is married with children, though 3 others have a child). My mom's side is much more traditional with each of my two cousins on that side married with two children each.
Despite its unconventionality, I couldn't ask for a better family. I truly count my parents and siblings among my friends. My sister-in-law continues to remain close to my family, seeing my parents and sister often, and my brother and I at least 2-3 times a year. My niece and nephew are teenagers, yet as a result of my sister-in-laws wonderful mothering, somehow managed to miss the bratty, self-indulgence that most teenagers seemed to feel entitled to (well at least in mixed company it appears this way:). I enjoy vacationing with my maternal side of the family once to twice a year and see most of my paternal side of the family at least once each year. All of my grandparents lived until I was adult living on my own, and I even had a great-grandmother who was an important part of my life until she passed away when I was a junior in college.
My husband is truly my best friend and whether we are on a trip or binge watching on Netflix, I am having a blast. Even through the hard times, we are able to talk to and support one another. We push one another to become the best version of ourselves we can be.
Even thought its corny I do consider our two dogs to be my furry children and they truly have proven themselves as (wo)man's best friend.
On top of all of that I even get along with my in-laws:).
The common thread in all of the relationships I have with each of the members of my family, beyond the biological or marital ties, is laughter. There are few family gatherings I can recall that did not result in deep belly laughs and I think that it is the genuine enjoyment of one another's company that keeps us coming back for more.
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