Family and Family Time is Invaluable

The title gives away my message, and it's not some sort of new revelation, but as a reflection on this Christmas season I want to talk about it briefly as it relates to me.

Last week my great Uncle Skip passed away, leaving my grandma on my mom's side as one of three remaining siblings in her family. Her husband, my grandfather, died the year before I was born. A surprising list of extended relatives have passed away in December, making for some difficult times at this typically joyful season of the year. Yet my entire mom's side of the family, as I have known it in the 21 years since I was born, was present to celebrate Christmas this evening. Everyone was there for dinner and the annual present-opening marathon. In the past at holidays we have had people working or out of town or with prior plans or even in the hospital. But tonight, everyone was present.

Before I go on, I don't want to leave out my dad's side of the family, whom I had a great time celebrating with today. It's merely that there are so many more direct relatives on my mom's side that the perfect attendance stood out to me so much. That being said, it struck me how fortunate I have been in my life to have never lost a close family member, or even a friend. And call me a pessimist, but I recognize that opportunities for my whole family to get together will become rarer and rarer in the coming years. Everyone is getting older, both kids and adults, and it's hard to imagine a Christmas where somebody would be absent.

As I write this now, however, I realize that I have missed my family's past two Easters due to being at school for rowing. Life goes on, people adjust, and the celebration still occurs, but that whole body of people that I have grown up sharing the special times in my life with so rarely can get everyone together that each event where it happens becomes so much more valuable. Family is a unit, and a valued one for me. I am learning not to take for granted the opportunities I have to be with my family, to enjoy the little things in life that have the biggest meaning.

I am thankful for the life I have for so many reasons, but perhaps the greatest reason of all is for the family in my life. To me, it is unparalleled, and the only thing I could ever ask for is more time to spend with it.