Family Time

In sad news: my mom's older sister Patty past away this week. We are gathering this evening and tomorrow morning to celebrate and remember the wonderful life she had.

I know this sounds awful, but in some weird way I look forward to events like this. (I know I'm totally creeping you out right now.) But it's some of the very few times that my whole family is together. I have a ton of cousins and thankfully I am very close to many of them. But as we grow older and we all start families of our own, finding time to get together is extremely difficult. Even during the holidays it is hard for us all to settle on a date to celebrate. But in times such as these, we drop our plans and realize the only thing important at the moment is to be together, even for a few hours.

I miss my cousins and aunts and uncles way more than I ever thought I would as an adult. They have always been an unconscious staple in my life, something I appreciate much more as I grow older. I realized this the most the other day when my 'baby' cousin Rach let me know via facebook that she will be attending OSU in the fall. I was proud and excited for her, knowing the great times she has ahead of her. But in a weird way I was sad too... the baby of the family is old enough to start her own life, leaving even less time for the rest of us. It's bittersweet I guess.

I'm rambling. Bottom line, I love my family. I love the concept of family. And I love when the true definition of family reaches it's potential.

Sniff, sniff.