Generations

    This past week I was on vacation and was able to visit with lots of family members -- some of whom I hadn't seen in years.  Some were as closely related as my sister and daughter and some were third cousins (who are closer to me in spirit than some of my first cousins).  We met and visited in places that our parents and grandparents and great parents had lived and filled with their love - and as we gathered we celebrated the joy that this coming week yet another child will be added to the next generation.   There was a strong sense for me of the on-going-ness of life and love and family.
   As we gathered we remembered family moments of great joy and expectation as well as moments full of pain and anger, grief and even rage.  What a blessing that the love and the joy and sense of being family survived at all!  We too often take for granted that our family will always be there for us -- but it won't necessarily.  And we take for granted that our friends or our church family will always forgive us and love us and be there for us --  but they won't necessarily.  It takes work to make and build and a keep a family -- whether it be our family of birth or one we have put together through shared faith or shared life experiences.
   It makes me so thankful that I filled my vacation with being with and enjoying time and memories and laughter with my family -- strengthening those ties that bind.  It also reminded me that I need to work on the ties that bind me to my friends past and present whom I don't get to see on a regular basis.  Somehow life seems to get in the way of keeping those ties strong -- what a loss for me over time that will be.  So, I have a new resolution -- to reach out and just say hello - I care about you -- I miss you, to those who have been such and important part of my life in the past.  I give thanks for those who have blessed my life with their laughter and love and I hope I have been a blessing to them as well.