MONDAY MUSINGS
June 30, 2008
Families
This past weekend our family gathered for an early celebration of my 70th birthday (July 7 is the actual date, so I am not 70 yet!) If you were in the second worship service yesterday you saw our three children, one of the three spouses, and eight of the nine granddaughters. I believe they passed the inspection.
What a grand and slightly wild time. We have considerable space for sleeping on beds and couches but the family tradition includes cousins sleeping on the floor together. With the questionable weather we thought setting up the tent in the basement playroom for sleeping made sense. Pat had planned plenty of delicious food, for our family enjoys eating. A great deal of time was spent in reminiscing, stories new and old, many poking a bit of fun at the characters who make up our family. The time flew by and by late Sunday afternoon Pat and I were the only ones around. We are finding items left behind, making sure they eventually will be returned to the proper family.
Families are interesting and complex systems. When I talk with couples as they are planning their wedding, we also talk about families. No two families are alike. Each has customs and patterns that are unique. Learning how to accommodate and appreciate those differing family systems and structures is one of the tests of a viable marriage.
One of the reasons we chose Greenfield as our retirement home was the proximity of those three families. There is no guarantee they will always been just a bit more than 2 hours away, but this is wonderful for now as those grandchildren are growing up. I lived too far from grandparents when I was growing up to see much of them and therefore missed the sort of relationship we have with our grandchildren. Watching our own children grow and mature is also one of the blessings that enrich my life.
There are a few more “adjustments” I need to make to return the living spaces back to their former use. We will cherish this new entry into our memory book and look forward to the next occasion to be together. Peace. John Krueger