The Weekend I Met My Uncles

First, a photo drop from earlier in the week to keep with my 365 challenge:

133/365:Some flowers I'm making in preparation for summer camp.

 134/365: P was Purple Day. Never been so happy to see so much purple in one room :).

135/365: A Minnie Marnie. Not so minnie lately.

 136/365: Some Wheeling in Springtime. 

 137/365: You have no idea how long it took to take this picture. And my dad...well, this is the best we could get. 

138/365: Sky Deck at Sears (whatever, Willis) Tower.

 139/365: Sleepy puppy after a long weekend. 

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Family is something that I have thought long and hard about over my life. I am one of those people who fully believes that family is what you make of it. My sister is my best friend, and this wasn’t just by design. My father worked hard to show us throughout our life how important it is to have family. There was many a fight that would end with my father intervening saying, “Enough. Friends come and go but you only have one sister.”

I would say that our family is closer than most. My siblings are more important to me than anyone else in this world. I would go as far as to say that my father has a closer relationship with his children than any other father—or at least equally as strong. I enjoy my family. I love my family. Spending a weekend with them is not a test on my patience or an obligation I need to keep. It is something I do often and something I enjoy.

All that being said, I am not as close with my extended family. When I was about 4 years old my parents made the difficult decision to move away from their family and friends to live in the Midwest where there was more opportunity for them. I can remember multiple times in my childhood where my mom would say, "I just want to go home." For a while I confused myself into believing that my mother had an alternate family. My mom was one of the few moms that worked full time while my father stayed home. She was already gone a lot more than I could understand. When she would say, "I want to go home" in the middle of our family room I started to believe that there was another family with better children, a bigger yard, and more puppies--definitely more puppies.

Soon, of course, I came to understand that the home she spoke of was Connecticut. The east coast is where my family was born (besides Michael) and my parents were raised. While technically it is my birth place, I would consider Chicago the place I was raised. Yet, there was always a longing. I am not sure my mother ever got over this transition.

Growing up I didn't understand why people cried when their grandparents died. I never knew mine. I thought it was weird that people had "family" birthday parties and friend birthday parties...when a family birthday party at my house was just another Tuesday night. I would say that there was always a consistent longing for something--or someone--more in my childhood.

This weekend I got to meet my uncles. Sure, I had technically met them before but not for many years had I seen them. It was so weird, and cool, to see my dad in the light of his brothers. There is something you can never understand about your parents until you see them in the way they may have been as children.

I know my dad has missed his family, but it's not something we ever heard stated the way my mother did. My dad has shown me he's missed his family by making our Christmas special each year--even in adulthood. He's shown me he misses family and family is important by teaching me to garden, like his grandmother did, and teaching me to cook how his father taught him. My dad shows me family is the core to everything he does by never hanging up without saying "I love you," by never saying no to the help we need, and by giving me the forever guidance my siblings and I need.

Family is so important. There's a bond between children and parents, sisters and brothers, uncles and nieces that not even time can break. I've missed my uncles, or at least the idea of uncles. I'm happy for the connection that this weekend gave us.

My idea of family continues to stretch and grow. My friends, my boyfriend, my siblings, their significant others, even my dog have all become the core to my life. This weekend, though I'm sad I had to say goodbye after one short weekend, I am happy for the Molway strength. The bond that exists between us, and probably many families, seems to be an unbreakable one. I hope my children are half as lucky to understand this feeling.