Family Ties
“We have three kinds of family. Those we are born to, those who are born to us, and those we let into our hearts” - Sherrilyn Kenyon
They may be biological, they may be adoptive, or they may be friends that you have deemed kin. Either way, they are family. They are those who care for and support you unconditionally, they are responsible for many a fond memory, and many a lesson learned. They give you a sense of home just as they love and accept the identity that is uniquely your own. (The Giving of Thanks)
Recently, I've written a couple posts about maintaining friendships both by disconnecting from our devices when we are in the physical presence of friends (Disconnect to Connect), and by using our resources to keep connected to those we are unable to spend time with in person (Keeping Connected and Digital Distance Friends).
I have stressed the importance of maintaining our friendships but believe it is equally important to maintain our relationships with family as well.
Think about when you were young and your aunts and uncles would come to visit, think about how excited you were to see them, how much you looked forward to their visits. As we get older, we tend to lose touch, we get busy with our lives, we get distracted, we make excuses. We, sometimes entirely unintentionally, remove ourselves from that support system, from the wonders of shared memories and that unique way of story telling that only our relatives seem to have where we are concerned.
As some of my more frequent readers will have pieced together by now, I recently lost a beloved aunt. One I had managed to remain quite close with throughout my life. During her year long battle with cancer, the family came together to help her, as well as to help each other, through the difficult times. It is through this silver lining of an extremely dark cloud that we have now decided to put forth more of an effort to spend time staying connected.
My godparents (also aunt and uncle), who are truckers, text me more frequently from the road, letting me know where they are, how their delivery is going and what new things my godfather is learning, currently the violin.
One of my uncles has taken to sending me a quick message on Facebook letting me know he misses me, I then call him after work and we chat and catch up for well over an hour.
My other uncle took a little more work as he is not the best at charging his cell phone, does not have internet, and is rarely indoors if he can help it. I have to admit, I was afraid that losing my aunt, his wife, would inevitably mean losing him out of his grief and out of the fact that he had married into my mothers side of the family. This particular aunt and uncle had been there throughout my entire life, they were there for all of my coming of age rights in religion, there for my hardest breakup, even there for my prom dinner. Losing touch with this uncle was simply not an option for me. It took a lot of pestering but finally I was able to get a hold of him and we have agreed to make more of an effort to meet for lunch now and again, in order to catch up. Last week, we went to lunch after which we looked for any excuse we could find to keep hanging out until I had to go to work. It was one of the best days I'd had in a while.
My point is, those in our family who have been good influences in our lives, our memories, and bring happiness to our heart, should be kept in our lives. Whether they be family by blood, by association, or by choice, they are worth keeping in touch with.
It is unfortunate when it takes dark times to remind us of this, but it is something to be grateful for. Sometimes it is easier to keep in touch, sometimes, a little more difficult, but always is the time, work, and effort worth it.
I have stressed the importance of maintaining our friendships but believe it is equally important to maintain our relationships with family as well.
Think about when you were young and your aunts and uncles would come to visit, think about how excited you were to see them, how much you looked forward to their visits. As we get older, we tend to lose touch, we get busy with our lives, we get distracted, we make excuses. We, sometimes entirely unintentionally, remove ourselves from that support system, from the wonders of shared memories and that unique way of story telling that only our relatives seem to have where we are concerned.
As some of my more frequent readers will have pieced together by now, I recently lost a beloved aunt. One I had managed to remain quite close with throughout my life. During her year long battle with cancer, the family came together to help her, as well as to help each other, through the difficult times. It is through this silver lining of an extremely dark cloud that we have now decided to put forth more of an effort to spend time staying connected.
My godparents (also aunt and uncle), who are truckers, text me more frequently from the road, letting me know where they are, how their delivery is going and what new things my godfather is learning, currently the violin.
One of my uncles has taken to sending me a quick message on Facebook letting me know he misses me, I then call him after work and we chat and catch up for well over an hour.
My other uncle took a little more work as he is not the best at charging his cell phone, does not have internet, and is rarely indoors if he can help it. I have to admit, I was afraid that losing my aunt, his wife, would inevitably mean losing him out of his grief and out of the fact that he had married into my mothers side of the family. This particular aunt and uncle had been there throughout my entire life, they were there for all of my coming of age rights in religion, there for my hardest breakup, even there for my prom dinner. Losing touch with this uncle was simply not an option for me. It took a lot of pestering but finally I was able to get a hold of him and we have agreed to make more of an effort to meet for lunch now and again, in order to catch up. Last week, we went to lunch after which we looked for any excuse we could find to keep hanging out until I had to go to work. It was one of the best days I'd had in a while.
My point is, those in our family who have been good influences in our lives, our memories, and bring happiness to our heart, should be kept in our lives. Whether they be family by blood, by association, or by choice, they are worth keeping in touch with.
It is unfortunate when it takes dark times to remind us of this, but it is something to be grateful for. Sometimes it is easier to keep in touch, sometimes, a little more difficult, but always is the time, work, and effort worth it.
Do you have any family you could be spending more time keeping in touch with? I'm betting the phone isn't too far out of reach from where you are right this very moment and I think I can safely assume the internet is currently right at your fingertips.
Cheers!
The Bra Street Rambler
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