Not exactly Norman Rockwell, but close...
Yesterday my middle brother Mike graduated from High School. My eldest brother Jeremy was in town for the event, all the way from the Elmendorf Air Force base in Alaska. Greg couldn't make it, so it was just me and my inner circle family - Mom, Dad, me, and my three younger brothers. After the ceremony we went to dinner at Red Robin, across the street from the school.
We got a round table and we all sat down and suddenly it hits us. We're all together again, without anyone else (namely Greg, he's been a fixture in the family for ages). This hadn't happened in years - quite possibly, nearly 7 years, since I moved out. And we're the kind of family that had dinner together every night. You don't fuck with dinnertime.
So we talked and joked and ate. Gave my brother his gifts. We reminisced about when the two youngest were babies. I was 10 and 11 when those two were born. Now only the youngest, Ben, is under 18, and that'll change next April. Everyone was dressed somewhat nicely, and we acted about as adult as my family ever acts (which isn't very, that's for sure).
We didn't fight...we enjoyed each other's company...it was nice. In some ways it was like traveling back in time...I could almost smell the homemade spaghetti or taste the Friday night Manischevitz for the Kiddush...and looking around at my youngest brothers I could almost see them as they were, heads barely peeking above the table, or even in high chairs...meanwhile Jeremy making faces at me when we weren't supposed to talk before the blessing on the bread. But in other ways it was completely different, as we have all arrived into adulthood pretty much, and can all deal with each other on the same level now....plus the years behind us have made us closer than ever.
And even after all these years "apart", we're all still together, still a team, still seeing the world from our odd perspective. I still love them, and they still love me, even though I have wandered from the flock in many ways. We won't be divided as my father's family was, we won't lose sight of our commonality, and I won't be ashamed of who I am, no matter how much they may drive me crazy, as they are inextricably a part of me and I've accepted that.
I drove home late at night, just me and my music, and felt content. Warmly content, filled with well-being. Here I am, I thought. Here we all are. We are where we are meant to be, and it's all ok in the end, all is forgiven, we are all welcoming each other into today and tomorrow and forever.
I felt somewhat like crying then but didn't. Writing it down does make me want to cry. For so long I've rejected everything about every one of them...it was wrong of me.
I love my crazy-ass family! :D
We got a round table and we all sat down and suddenly it hits us. We're all together again, without anyone else (namely Greg, he's been a fixture in the family for ages). This hadn't happened in years - quite possibly, nearly 7 years, since I moved out. And we're the kind of family that had dinner together every night. You don't fuck with dinnertime.
So we talked and joked and ate. Gave my brother his gifts. We reminisced about when the two youngest were babies. I was 10 and 11 when those two were born. Now only the youngest, Ben, is under 18, and that'll change next April. Everyone was dressed somewhat nicely, and we acted about as adult as my family ever acts (which isn't very, that's for sure).
We didn't fight...we enjoyed each other's company...it was nice. In some ways it was like traveling back in time...I could almost smell the homemade spaghetti or taste the Friday night Manischevitz for the Kiddush...and looking around at my youngest brothers I could almost see them as they were, heads barely peeking above the table, or even in high chairs...meanwhile Jeremy making faces at me when we weren't supposed to talk before the blessing on the bread. But in other ways it was completely different, as we have all arrived into adulthood pretty much, and can all deal with each other on the same level now....plus the years behind us have made us closer than ever.
And even after all these years "apart", we're all still together, still a team, still seeing the world from our odd perspective. I still love them, and they still love me, even though I have wandered from the flock in many ways. We won't be divided as my father's family was, we won't lose sight of our commonality, and I won't be ashamed of who I am, no matter how much they may drive me crazy, as they are inextricably a part of me and I've accepted that.
I drove home late at night, just me and my music, and felt content. Warmly content, filled with well-being. Here I am, I thought. Here we all are. We are where we are meant to be, and it's all ok in the end, all is forgiven, we are all welcoming each other into today and tomorrow and forever.
I felt somewhat like crying then but didn't. Writing it down does make me want to cry. For so long I've rejected everything about every one of them...it was wrong of me.
I love my crazy-ass family! :D