A wonderful thing happened last week. Our family got together, with one exception. Sam flew in from his first semester at University of Vermont. Dan drove up the two hours from Eugene and brought his girlfriend. Lisa was here. My sister Laura drove in two hours from where she lives on the coast. Only my sister Susan and her husband Jim were not with us but back home in Connecticut. Maybe next year.
But that’s not the best part.
The most wonderful thing was all the love and positive energy that was here with us.
Too many times family gatherings can be full of pain. As a child I watched my mother’s extended family behave as if everyone got along, only to have the realities of their relationships become more overt as alcohol consumption increased. Cousins who I didn’t know well acted out their parents’ disdain for my mom and remained people I never wanted to know well.
I tried to raise my kids to be supportive of each other. To love one another. To offer helpful and healthy suggestions and then back off if they note someone needs a nudge in another direction, keeping the process as positive as possible.
Watching them this past week has been a joy. I think it took.
goingplaceslivinglife 
December 29, 2013 at 3:46 am
Love your pictures, Beth
December 29, 2013 at 6:46 am
I realized that I had not gotten a single photo of everyone this time and I am absolutely appalled by that omission. The photo on the swinging bridge was taken a few years ago, the last time we all were together.
December 28, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Nice article, Beth 🙂
December 29, 2013 at 6:47 am
It was a magical time with everyone here.
December 28, 2013 at 4:26 pm
I am so happy that you decided to move to Oregon and we are closer in miles than we have been for decades! I had a wonderful time being part of your family get together! Now am looking forward to more times to do this again!
December 29, 2013 at 6:48 am
I realized that having everyone here was such a wonderful experience. But better than that, was realizing how much we all care about each other.
December 28, 2013 at 8:37 am
Beautiful! So happy to hear.
and, Congratulations! Well Done!
December 28, 2013 at 8:40 am
It’s really nice to see that my kids really really like each other. Love is sort of a given, being family. But love, in many families, includes an edginess that is not comfortable. Here, this love/like thing is real. Now, believe me, it is not 100% constant. We are human. LOL But the less comfortable moments are very very short and definitely rare.