Family time

I have a family like many others.  We are spread all over the country.  I have a brother in California, one in Wisconsin, a sister in Louisiana, and my parents in Louisiana.  All of my siblings are married and only one is childless, well, for now.  That makes the holidays tough.  I remember growing up having everyone together for the holidays.  We always celebrated together and then something happened.  We grew up.

As I said, we are scattered all around.  We have our families, and our careers.  It makes it difficult to get together often.  I haven't been home to Louisiana since 2008.  I truthfully don't remember the last time the whole family, including all of our children, were together.  We have met for football games but someone was always missing.  We went to weddings, but again, someone was always missing.  Hannah lives on the California, so coordinating visits with the family is tough.  She is here for the summers but we haven't taken any trips since the trip in 2008.  Hopefully we can change that, and get the entire family together.

I find that as I get older I want that.  I want us all to get together and share family time.  I like our family gatherings.  Usually they go something like this.

When Mike was drafted we all went to my dad's house for the weekend.  Mike, Jonathan, my brother-in-law Jon, and I stayed up until after 3am playing dominoes and quoting movie lines.  We had a ball.  When Jonathan was up to be drafted we did the same thing again.  We were up all night and at 4am decided to go to Harrah's in New Orleans.  We gambled a little, went home, and crashed.  What a long night.  But again, it was fun.  We stayed in the garage cracking each other up playing cards and dominoes, and had complete conversations in movie lines.  Great times.

When Jonathan got married we stayed outside the hotel into the wee morning hours.  When Mike got married...similar results.  When we got together, we would talk about memories from our childhoods, and laugh at the things we did and clowned on each other.  Even my parents would get in on those conversations.  My sibling's spouses get in on stuff, too.  They clown with us and get in on the stories and we have a ball.

Of course now, as we get older and have families, our stories change.  We laugh at the things our kids do, and compare the things they do to what we used to get into.  And we still have good laughs.  I miss that stuff.  I get together with Ashley's family and have a great time.  We have good conversations and fun times.  I love my in-laws and the family.  But there is something I miss about hanging out with my siblings and parents, especially around the holidays.

One day maybe we can get the whole family, including all of our kids, together for a large family meal.  I don't mean in a restaurant, but in a home where we all do the cooking.  I miss that.