Earlier today, my niece got married. She and Enoch exchanged vows in front of their families and friends. Enoch’s father performed their ceremony. It had to be a special place as a father to preside over the marriage of you first born son. And my sister and her husband, gave away their second child, little Miss Becky. At the reception, there was a slide show of these two young people from infancy to the point when they linked their lives. They are both from large families and I was excited that my family tree may have a rebirth. Seventeen years ago, I married into a large Irish Catholic family. My in-laws gather and congregate . The can come together and fold in even the most wayward member of the family. When two family trees combine, they form hybrids. They “cross pollinate” and new, heartier varieties form. Root systems get stronger. I am excited and anticipate the new shoots, the new branches, the new blooms.
I’ve always felt I missed something not having a large, expanded family. What family we did have was secretive and distant and cold….there were 7 of us cousins…and the elders successfully kept us strangers over the years so much that now, that we are all adults and the “elders” we don’t even know each other.
I also am extremely pained that MY own personal family has schisms that don’t seem to be able to be repaired…it makes me very sad, as I know how it feels to get “old and not have extended family” to enjoy. Hindsight is always 20=20!!!