Family....

I will be the first person to tell you that you don't get to pick your family. I stay in touch via FB and phone with most of my family, but I don't do weekly phone calls nor do I check up on them too often. I figure if my extended family needs me, they'll let me know.

I have never been close to my Dad's side of the family. I don't know why. They are not bad people. I have loving, cousins, aunts & uncles. Like every other family on the planet we have marriages, births and inevitably deaths.

Recently, I received a note from my aunt. She is 82. The note was a little odd. So, I followed up with some cousins. I asked around about my aunt's health and the state of her world. The most common answer I got was, "It's none of my business but...." or "I don't want to cause any trouble, but...."

I realized that over the years I have felt distanced from the family because of the way we were raised. Other families emote, they share, they have deep conversations. We exchange pleasantries. It is rare for any of us to speak about more than the kids, the weather and the state of world affairs.

All these years, I thought it was just me, but it turns out that everyone in the family feels like the odd man out. Many of my cousins said that they are the last to hear information. While it's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels the distance, it makes me wonder what the future will bring.

I have been on the fence about my New Year's resolution. But I think my resolution will be to work harder on interacting with my relatives. I want my children to understand the value of family and to hear about past mistakes so that we can move forward and not repeat them.