30 Days of Thankfulness- Family

My gratitude for and toward my family has many facets. For one, I am thankful to even have a family. I know both of my parents, and have known them my whole life. I have all four of my grandparents, and even knew some of my great-grandparents, which is more than some people can say. Having a family- and a loving one at that- is a blessing in itself.

I am thankful for the relationships I have with members of my family. I have not always been on the greatest terms every day of my life with various family members. I fought with my mom a lot growing up. I didn’t fight as much with my dad, but when he did get involved, that meant I was really in trouble. My relationship with my brother has been contentious off and on throughout our lives. And to be 100% honest  (I hereby declare this to also be “honesty month”), I sometimes felt out of place with my extended family growing up. I was book-ended in age by a cousin and a little brother who I often felt were more special than I was on one side of my family. My brother got a lot of attention because he was the youngest, and my cousin got a lot of attention for being so hard-working, successful and active.  I did nothing. As a matter of fact, when I finally did do something- and did it pretty darn well, thank you- a teacher of mine had a brief meeting with me and said she wanted to do cartwheels down the aisle of the play I starred in, because she was so happy people were cheering for me and paying attention to this talent I had, because she knew that other members of my family got lots of glory for a lot of stuff. That is seriously one of the most important things anyone has ever said to me in the 24 and a half years I have lived on this earth.

But things have changed over the past few years, and for the better. I don’t fight with my mom anymore. Since I moved out, my mom has really been a rock for me, helping me maintain my mental and emotional health during the biggest upheaval of my life (getting married and moving out.) She has also become my best friend. I have a good relationship with my brother, when I can get him to answer my emails and texts. We like talking to each other when I visit my parents’ house. I’ve become pen pals (pen cousins?) with my cousin, and after spending most of my life in her shadow (and bickering with her over stupid stuff as a kid), we are friends and write to each other frequently. I feel more accepted and loved by my family now than I ever have in my life. And I’m grateful for that.

Lastly, I am thankful for my family’s proximity. A lot of people live some distance away from their families, only seeing them at Christmas and Thanksgiving, if they’re lucky. Almost all my family lives here in Louisville- most of us cover the same few zip codes! I see my dad’s side of the family pretty frequently, and though my maternal grandparents live a tiny bit further away, I can still visit them easily. I’m thankful that I can visit with my family pretty much any time I want. If I couldn’t, I think that would make me really sad, and certainly would have made me a lot more homesick than I already was when I got married. 

I may come back later and upload more pictures- I don't have many on my computer right now, but I do still  have this one to post, from when I uploaded it around Mother's Day. : )