FAMILY

There's a sweet syrupy feeling when you are surrounded by your FAMILY. They are the ones who REALLY embrace your weirdness, your stupid jokes and your quirks. They are the ones who remember "how it used to be" stories and they STILL laugh at all of them! They are the ones who are extensions of yourself. Maybe not in all ways, but certainly in some.

Today, my sister Pat from California, her husband and their son and daughter and their families, as well as Summer and her boys and Butch and Kay and their FAMILY all came together for the first time in 10 years. When we gathered everyone up, it was just so sweet to see our grown children with their spouses and their children. My heart swelled.

In their faces, I can see my parents and grandparents and I reminisce in my mind about loved ones who are no longer alive. They live on in our children and grandchildren. We remember our roots when we look at them, where we've come from and how we've been blessed.

Being together today was good. The time was short but so sweet.

How grateful to God I am today for giving us all the opportunity to spend time together with FAMILY, to laugh, to play and to love. Thanks God.