Family

My closest family would be my wife and the boys; however, this post is not about them, as I have already written about marriage and children.  This would be about other family, primarily my siblings, with maybe a few others thrown in.

One of the strongest forces that influences my relationship with my siblings is the memory of my mother's desire that we should always remain a family.  It was important to her that her children retain some connection to each other, and it was a big reason why she wanted us to keep getting together at Christmas even after we were older, some of us had moved away, and my father was gone.  As a parent, I can understand the desire, but I also see how even brothers and sisters can drift apart as they grow older and move away.  My siblings and I have always kept in touch at least on occasion, and I think we would help each other if the need arose.  My sister from Oregon has visited several times, and we travel her way as well.  We are not all as close as we once were, but the bond is still there.  In addition, my brother and I, who were the two oldest, remain very close and always will.

Since I did not grow up with cousins and aunts and uncles much, I don't have a big extended family.  I hear from two neices and a nephew on Facebook, including many IM sessions with my nephew, and I'm glad to keep in touch with them.  I knew them well when I lived in California and they were very young, but we didn't communicate much for awhile after I moved to Washington, until Facebook came along.

One group I do not see as often as I would like is my in-laws.  I used to go to Oklahoma every year or two with Jackie and the boys, but as the boys got older it became easier for Jackie to go without me, and that has become the norm.  Her father and grandmother are both ill, and her niece had a baby in the last year or two, but I have only been back once in the last five years, so I feel a bit out of touch.  I get all my news of them second-hand from Jackie.

Looking at those paragraphs, it doesn't seem like there is a lot of family interaction going on.  We don't all get together anymore for family vacations or even for holidays.  We have never staged a family reunion.  Nevertheless I'm happy that we have stayed in touch and on good terms.  I'm not sure if Mom would have thought it was enough, but then, she was always hard to please.