Let's Talk About Family

[Fishwhenican]

It's been a long time since I started a post so I thought I would give it a shot. This is inspired by KT's Post on turning 35 and the ensuing discussion about family. Seemed like that OP was going off on a tangent so I though it would be interesting to create a separate post on Family.

I find it really interesting how different families interact with each other. Some get along really well and than it seem to run the gambit to other families that do nothing but fight like cats and dogs.

I guess that you could say I fall somewhere in the middle of all that. My mom and dad passed away and my sister lives pretty far away and we rarely talk. It's not that we don't get along we just don't talk or get together much. The only person I really really miss in my family is my Dad. My mom was a lunatic PITA and my Cousins, Aunts and Uncles always lived a pretty good distance from me so I never really saw them too much to really miss not seeing much of them now.

Here is the interesting thing. I guess I really deep down inside believe that family is important. When my kids fight with each other I have had more than one occasion where I have stopped it and gave them the family lecture. I tell them that other people can come and go, Friends, spouses, people you work with, whatever. But, family/blood is forever. When/If everyone else is gone you will still be related to your family and it is a precious thing that you should protect. I don't know maybe I am just over dramatic but I think something in me wants to see my kids get along better and end up closer than what my family ended up. I mean I am OK with how things ended up but still miss the closeness I see in some families.

So, how close are you to your family?

How many people do you actually consider to be "Family"? Does it include cousins, third cousins ect... This is interesting to me because around here there are so many people who are related to each other it is silly. People have distant blood that they call Auntie and Cousin.

What is normal or is there even such a thing.

How about some family stories. Maybe good heartwarming ones and also the ugly(funerals are usually good for this. NOt because people are jst sad at missing their loved one but it seems like if there is bad blood in a family this is the time when all the crap really hits the fan)