*~*~ Family ~*~*
Family is probably one of the most important concepts of this Life to me. Growing up it was just my brother, me, my Gram, and my Mom. My dad was off in his own world raising a famly he acknowledged that did not include me. My Mother's side of the family would have preferred we did not exist at all other than Gram, who lived near us or with us off and on throughout my life. Her sister, my "Aunt" Mina and her household (her daughter "Aunt" Loretta and husband "Uncle" Don), was the only family that I really ever knew to any great degree. However, the holidays were usually including them and dinner, chatter, and lots of rules about being seen and not heard.
When I reached adulthood (or thereabouts) I decided that I wanted/needed a large family. I was never going to find that, and I knew that, not in my own bloodline, so I decided that I would have to adopt them in one sense or another. I took in strays and friends to my house for holidays and created my own large "family" that filled that need most of the time. My late teens and early twenties are filled with gatherings of friends and assocaitions that made the holidays less lonely.
Over time and circumstance, I found myself unwilling to chase after my host of "friends" and associates. When I stopped chasing, they drifted away. Falling ill removed the rest for their own reasons, be it discomfort or simply distance and lack of time to come to me. Whatever the reasons, I find myself with my four sons, my husband and his family, and my Mom, as well as a few friends of note. While not the large gathering of my dreams, it certainly makes the holidays a busy time of cooking and socializing.
My goal for the years to come is to reinstitute my holiday "parties" and get-togethers, bring in new friends and associates in this new and "older" time of my life. We shall see what comes of it!
Family. The rock that gives us shelter in the storm, to cling to when there is little else.
~Jaz2009 Holiday Season
