Anyway, I had a great time this past weekend in Ohio. Over the weekend I got to see a lot of family that I typically only see about twice a year. Here's just a dew of us at our place (Blogger really messes with pics - click on it for a better image).
I've always been close to my family and this past weekend helped me to remember why. My family has a tradition of going to my Aunt's on the 4th Sunday of the month. On a typical Sunday there would be about 10 to 15 of us there and my Mom, Dad and I would be the three youngest ones. Although throughout Elementary and Middle School I would complain about it ad nauseam that there wasn't anyone there that was my age, I would still get into some good conversations with my Great Aunts & Uncles at least once a month with discussions varying from "How tall are you now?" to "I don't understand this new music in church. Why do we have to sing the same words over and over?". I don't know why it took me so long to realize it, but this weekend I realized that the time I spend with the older generation of my family teaches me respect. It teaches me that no matter how much I've experienced life, no matter how much I think that I know everything, there's someone who has already gone through that phase and has learned from it. I think there's also a lesson on humbleness in there too. Our generation may have the power and the familiarity of technology, but there's something to experience. And you have to respect and honor that.
After reading the words above, I know that I'm hardly doing justice to my family. I can't wrap it up in a single blog entry. It's tough. But it was something that was on my mind while driving back to Michigan last night. Just thought I'd write it out and share.
