Family Relationships
I just celebrated my 69th birthday, now I’m on
the long road to 70. Thank you to all those
who expressed birthday wishes to me… what a treasure-trove of loving friends
and family I have! If I haven’t responded
to you yet, I am working on a long list!
As I reflected on the volume of birthday wishes It occurred
to me that many of the people who texted me are nieces and nephews, or children
of nieces and nephews. Having 8 siblings
in my family has yielded a sizable number of close family members. I took an unofficial count the other day;
between my sibs, their spouses, and their kids, my close family member tally is
a small crowd of 50+ people. My nieces and
nephews all have children, and some of them have kids of their own (yes, my brothers
and sisters are all grandparents, and some are even great-grandma and
grandpa. This group adds to the tally at
least another 50 souls. I should know each
of them and know what’s going on in their lives, but sadly I don’t. This gives me an opportunity to get to know my
grandnephews and nieces and their families.
This is something I will commit to doing before my turn in life is
completed.
Thinking about my siblings’ children and my relationship with them. Being at the end of the line of
Mom and Dad’s children, I am not much older than many of my nieces and
nephews. It is almost like I have these
brothers and sisters, then I have these "bonus" brothers and sisters. To some of them we have a growing up
commonality because Mom helped take care of her grand kids at times, and they would
come over to our house and stay the night or two… Not that I was always nice to them, but the interaction
was there… I vow to be more communicative
with my “bonus” brothers and sisters in the future.
I hope this piece has made you think about your families and
the relationship with your nephews and nieces, your cousins, aunts and uncles,
and especially your siblings and parents.
Treasure the common history you share with them. Seek out memorabilia from your growing up
period. Write down your memories of your
early years and share them with your family members… they can help correct memories and provide
details that perhaps you never knew. DON’T
WAIT! I did and now any details of my
early childhood or of the early years of my Mom and Dad’s family are lost. I know you will be better for the effort. The love for your family will make it a grand
adventure!
Love to all!
Don Bahr
Thank you for profound thoughts and insights to family. Love reading your blogs
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