Family

On Sunday my family met at my parents house to celebrate my mom's birthday and to get together before Christmas because we would not be able to all be together for it. My family is not perfect. For a long time, I think, we tried to be. Or at least tried to look like it. But all of that has changed recently, for the better, and has shifted the mood of our gatherings. I can walk into their house and be more open and honest with everyone than I ever could when I lived there, I can see the troubles, the pain, the emotions running underneath the exterior. I have a younger sister who is pushing to find herself and what she is called to be. I have a younger brother who just wants to be connected to us, to me, more than anything. I have an older brother and his wife who share a dynamic far different than my wife and I, but they enjoy each other (and I think are feeling more free to do so around others). I have parents who have gone through a lot of drama, chaos and pain over the last few years, and can come out on the other side and see that truth is better than illusion (no matter how dangerous or different). And I have grandparents that impact each and every one of us differently (even if we don't get to see them as much as we would like).

My family is not perfect. There are issues and problems, conversations that still need to be had, tears to be shed, old wounds that need healing, new wounds that need attention. But it was nice seeing my family together and the difference a few years makes.