Family

I've been thinking a lot about family lately. Maybe because more of my family have started blogging, or because my sister was here for visit from Calgary, or because I've been speaking alot with my brother and sister-in-law in Calgary lately trying to plan our three week vacation there this summer. Whatever the reason, I've been thinking about how important my family is to me and how blessed we are to have such a wonderful support.

There are seven children in my family, and six in John's. As you can imagine, when we all get together now, it is quite caotic. My parents did an amazing job in raising us all to be independant as adults, and yet close as siblings. We don't spend our lives in each other's pockets. We all have our own lives, and yet we can still remain each other's best friends. We are there for each other no matter what. We share in each other's joys, and help each other through the difficult times. I know that I can go to my family members and share my heartaches and know that they will be there to support me. This was very evident when we went through a very trying situation just before Christmas. My family were there to hold me up when I needed them most. They weren't judgemental but totally understanding. They cried with me, and prayed with me.

I've also been blessed with a wonderful second family. My parents always taught me that when I got married I was part of two families. It was important to my mother for us to learn that holidays needed to be shared equally between both sides. Both sets of grandparents need the equal opportunity to spend time with the grandchildren. John's family is a wonderful, supportive network for us and I feel so blessed to have them as my in-laws. We try very hard to make sure that our boys have a close relationship with both sides of the family. That is so important to us. Now that my boys are getting older, I realize just how important these values are to teach them. It bothers me to see someone get married and give up their own family to become part of another one. They are missing out on so much ... and their children are really missing out on a wonderful relationship with two families.

I know that no matter what we may go through in this life, we can overcome because we have the love and support of two families behind us. With all those people supporting us, how can we not succeed?