Family

"Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space. ~Evan Esar"


Family.

What does family mean to you? For a long time, I thought it was just a word describing a lot of people genetically related.

As I get older, I realize what it really means, or what it SHOULD mean.

"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck"


Being of Greek descent, family is very important to me. But it wasn't until recently that I realized how important my family really is. In the last year, my father had been diagnosed with Cancer, shortly after that, my Grandmother was diagnosed with a different kind of Cancer. That same Grandmother suffered a serious fall and a couple of bone breaks. My father passed away right after that and my family was reunited for the memorial service. It was such a sad and difficult time for us, but we were all there for each other.

Today's world has put the family in jeopardy. The days go by so fast, and everyone's trying to survive, all the while, missing out on what's truly important.

I miss the days when family reunions happened annually. When everyone got together to rejoice in the name of family. All the food and drinks and conversation and pitchin horse shoes. What great memories. Today, no one's able to attend such functions due to work or other commitments. Its sad that families only come together now for the sake of weddings or funerals.


"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ~Jane Howard"


My kids always remind me that they don't know who their cousins are. If I speak of an Aunt or Uncle, they ask, "Why haven't we met them?". My kids attend school with one of their cousins and until recently, they didn't know he was their cousin.

I think its important to know your family members. The good ones and the "bad" ones. Someday, you may be calling on them for help.

When you think of your family members, think of them with love and respect. And if you can't do that, then remember them the way they were before you lost respect for them. But ultimately, love them. Life is too precious and too short to waste time not loving your family.

"At the end of the day, a loving family should find everything forgivable. ~Mark V. Olsen and Will Sheffer, Big Love, "Easter""

If you find yourself thinking that there are more important things in life than family, I'm here to tell you, you're wrong in thinking that.


"Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted. ~Paul Pearshall"

When things go wrong, and family members quarrel, be careful what you say, somethings can not be taken back and sometimes, family members die and you may never get the chance to say "I'm sorry" or "Good Bye"

I love my family, and I miss them terribly. I wish I could spend more time with them. One day, I'll wake up and find that we're all old and there's not too many of us left...I don't want to wake up to that. I haven't collected enough great memories yet.

just a little food for though
kT