Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Family

I'm going to deviate from my normal listing of blessings over the past week. This past week has been one so blessed with family, I wanted to share that instead. Throughout our move the number one blessing has been family. They have been there through the frustrations of the sale, the packing, the unpacking, and the settling in. They have helped get outside work done, hauling stuff to the dump and have give unsolicited but pretty good advice. This weekend all the kids and their partners were home for a family reunion on Saturday. Most of them came home early to help us with the house, stay overnight to travel to the family reunion and turn things into a family oriented weekend.

Anyone who has read my blogs knows how much family means to me. I cannot stress this enough. You can have all the money in the world but if you don't have family you have nothing! My husband's grandmother age 94 was at the family reunion. She was able to meet and hold our granddaughter her great great granddaughter. A younger family member is doing genealogy as a class assignment focusing on certain portions of her family at one time. I was surprised at what information she had! It was all done by hand and word of mouth with the help of other family members who gathered whatever information they had. To me it was a genealogy mecca! It was a wonderful blessing to see such a young person interested in genealogy to the point of gathering not only pictures but primary and secondary information. How wonderful to see a young family member so interested not only in the history of the family but also the future embracing all what genealogy is about.

This past week has been all about family. From the laughs, the tears, the fond memories, the food, the support, the bonding...it was all about family. We are so blessed beyond words to have such a wonderful family. Sure there are a few skeletons and family hush hushes although surprising very few given the size of the family on that size. What is amazing is the absolutely wonderful stories of their lives from the elder members and how some of those things influenced future generations. Two world wars, a depression, immigration and starting a new life in Canada with no family other than themselves to depend on. Believe me I was all eyes, ears and talk picking for any information I could find while enjoying myself.

I watched my now adult kids and grandbaby interact with their aunts, uncles, great (everything) and sit with a mesmerizing look on their face as they listened to their great great grandmother sharing bits and pieces with them. I saw the respect in their faces for other family members. I saw the shear joy of them being around other family members. I saw the laughter and sharing. And I saw blessing flowing so freely. Family...is everything! And what a true blessing it is.