Family Weekend

With four brothers, three sisters, three sister-in-laws, two nephews, a niece, plus the parents, any weekend family get together means lots of people. Any family get-together tends to be fast and only about twenty-four hours. With work schedules, commitments, and travel time, we usually have about twenty-four hours together. With four siblings, three sister-in-laws, two nephews, and a niece out of state, it is a rare occasion when all sixteen can be together.

For this trip, four siblings stopped along the way to the parents to enjoy dinner with a brother and sister-in-law. Though a bit of a detour, it worked out perfectly since they were enjoying an anniversary weekend and were going to miss the other family. The dinner passed way too quickly as we caught up on life happenings--sharing work stories, hearing about various trips and adventures, and updating on general life. An outsider would have noticed the six of us engaging in small-group conversations or whole table discussions. The outsider would have noticed the conversations ranged from work stories and general life updating, to books read, and movies to see plus upcoming events to plan for. Sadly, dinner passed too quickly, and the time came for us to say our good-byes. The two celebrating their anniversary continued their weekend get-away, and the other four traveled on to visit the parents and a niece and nephew.

Though we pulled in around 10:00 and we were all positively exhausted from a full week of work, it wasn't time for bed. Hugs were given all around as travelers and hosts settled on the infamous couches to catch up on life and enjoy each other's company in the short amount of time.

The lights turned out at midnight as the nine month old niece was fed and put back to bed by her adoring uncle while the rest crawled gratefully into their beds. But family weekends aren't for long nights of sleep, before we knew it, the morning arrived, and we were back to visiting.

Throughout the day, an outsider would have observed a rotating group of people in the kitchen as they made muffins, peanut butter blossoms, pizza dough, then the pizzas, and finally chocolate pudding. Conversations in the kitchen ranged from how to make all the food, to possible weekends for other visits, to life, to dancing, movies, work, and people.

In the living room, people came and went all day long as they discussed classes, concerts, practicing, and people. Family talked, family napped, and family played with the nephew and niece. The nephew used his excavator and the niece crawled and explored everything. Sometimes the nephew would cuddle up with grandpa, or an aunt or uncle for a book or Daniel Tiger. A trip to the park with the nephew and niece was an absolute must.

Wherever you were in the house, people were around. Singing would start randomly or someone would be playing the piano. The house was filled with family and love. People came and went all day long as two other sisters dropped in for the day and six friends visited, some for the morning and some for the evening. The house was filled with family and love. As people went their separate ways, the house became quiet again and was slowly put back to order, but the love was still evident as each person went back to their lives.