Family/Friends

This is a two episode mini-series. At times I know what each word means.  At other times the line blurs and people change sides and identifying words no longer fit.

Family first.  We all come with at least two sides from father and mother.  In my growing up, specifics counted. Without blinking I could rattle off first cousin, first cousin once removed, second cousin, my uncle’s wife’s sister.  Family appeared in person and spent the night or had a meal on the way to. Those who didn’t appear often were still familiar because they were identified and discussed when two or three others were gathered.  The shift for me was a cousin who moved to the closeness of a sister and to the long time intimacy that one has with a college roommate. Her house was my safe place as a new teacher in a far city.  Her husband took me fishing.  Her sons were my boy sitting charges at one time and later became call on the phone to check up on friends.

My in-laws, though dear, are not blood to me, but they are to our children.  The ten cousins, spanning fifteen years, moved wherever the group was like a swarm of locust.  We have several pictures of them lined up in order. When our daughter married, that was the wedding picture she specifically asked for.  My husband’s family has an enumeration.  The newest is 95. Outside of the tumult of large gatherings, I began to have conversations and sharing moments with various ones of the group that have tied us beyond the title that identifies them.  Even if they were not family, I would choose them to be with.

“He (or She) has no family.” is indeed sad.  I want to flip that coin later and affirm that friends can fill that empty space.  For now, I bask in that inclusive feeling God meant when he called all of us children and family who gather in various places and under diverse names to be His.

I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named.  Ephesians 3: 14-15