I love my family!

Though it seems to many like I am very detached from my family, the truth is I feel really at home and connected to my extended family. I really have a fun family, and nothing lifts my spirits more than family gatherings with game night.

On Labor Day, the whole family celebrated my nephew Brandon’s fourth birthday. The whole family from both sides came over to spoil the only grandchild on my mom’s side, and only the first of two on my dad’s side of the family. And it is great to be adored and imitated by a nephew who wants to be like Uncle Tony, going so far as using birthday money to buy a Doctors Playset, complete with white coat!

Anyway, the whole family came over… all of them. My dad’s two sisters and his mom and step-dad all came over. My mom’s mom and her brother and sister and their spouses came over. We had a young cousin, and another cousin and her boyfriend. And of course, my sister and brother-in-law were there. Add to that three family friends, and we had a house full.

After afternoon gatherings like these, whether it be birthday parties, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, many in the family stay late, grazing on left-over food, and playing games. Some classics that are often played include Outburst, Scategories, and Taboo.

Long after Brandon crashed from his adrenaline high opening presents, half the family stayed and played Scategories. Wow! It was hilarious! We are a fairly generous group in this game, to say the least… where “nuts” and “nuts, beer” –always shared as ‘nuts comma beer’- are both accepted, as well as “loopy” as a “state.” It is rather amusing, with lots of cracking on each other… especially when my cousin’s new boyfriend comes up with “Princess” for the category “Costume beginning with with the letter ‘P’,” my sister comes up with “whip” for the category of weapon, my 60 year old uncle comes up with “New Kids on the Block” for musical group, and I come up with “lusty” as a personality trait beginning with ‘L’! You can imagine the conversation and laughter that is generated from such things.

What makes it so great is the shared experiences through the years, growing up together and spending so much time together. There are no major grudges or strained relationships that would ever require special planning and arranged seating to keep certain people away from each other. Though my dad’s side of the family is VERY different from my mom’s side, they all get along and expect to see each other regularly. And there is a lack of pretentiousness and defensiveness that is wonderful and comforting. Even my sister and I can rag on each other in a playful way during these times.

Although there are lots of deeper reasons why I love my family – from the caring and sharing to the genuine love and support to the generally positive attitudes- I think the times of laughter are the best example, because the laugher is deeper and longer because of the other things. I do have a hard time coming home, because it is hard for me to leave the proximity of the fun. True, these fun gatherings aren’t frequent. But, certainly, they are more frequent than I can attend being out in Ohio. I do miss my family, and savor every opportunity like this night to spend with them in peace, sharing, and most of all, laughter. I hope that if I have children, they will be surrounded by such a set of deeply loving and committed family (biological and spiritual) as I have been blessed with.