Family

"Life is a game, Play it; Life is a challenge, Meet it; Life is an opportunity, Capture it. "

~ Unknown

They're here. My family. The multitudes of them. My brother, his wife and young son, who live far, far away have made their once yearly journey to visit my mom. That visit in turns brings the entirety of my siblings (except one - my eldest sister) here to visit them - from all parts of the country. I have six siblings; three brothers, three sisters. And those siblings have kids - ages eight through thirty!

Most people would be over-joyed at the prospect of family getting together. As a reader of my blog you will know that events over the past few years have quashed most of the joy I once felt at such gatherings. I'm not going to hide. The past two years I remained entirely out of the picture when my eldest brother and my sister, K. took part. This year I'm going to participate, albeit, on the periphery.

Tonight, I'm not feeling well so I'm just hanging in my room. But I can hear them upstairs, knowing swigs from their longneck bottles of Bud, are making their voices louder and laughs heartier. But I feel good not being a part of their stories tonight. Tomorrow, there's a big party, hopefully I'll be feeling better, and maybe I'll feel ready to laugh along with them.