I’ve been thinking a lot about family. It was something I was taught to value from a very young age. My dad always said that my brothers and I were lucky because we would always have each other in the world. He told me once he envied me as he was an only child and never got to have siblings to grow up with. Even when we were adults with our own families, my dad would pick one or two days of the year and try to get us all together. Sometimes it was New Years Day, other times it was a hot day in July when we would all head out to Cundy’s Harbor for lobsters. We all found a day was the ideal amount of time to be together and let our children know one another. My mom felt like it was far better when we all came in small groups or individually but dad wanted that “Brady Bunch” moment even as our paths diverged further apart.

Those days of togetherness have ceased since my parents passed but we do try to stay connected. My brothers take trips together annually and I pop in and out of experiences as I am able. I see my own children spending less and less time together as they spread their wings and both Matthew and I are conscious of how special it is when we have the whole band back together. I think they also realize that it isn’t a given that they see each other and the onus is now on them to stay involved in each others’ lives. Stay tuned for a Christmas trip that will afford us treasured time together as a blended family of five.

In the last few years I’ve also learned that family isn’t limited to blood. I am as close to my cousin as I would be to any sister my parents could have provided. One of my dad’s favorite student from Bates has become a lifelong friend that I consider an added older brother. Certainly my “boys from France” are now brothers that I treasure as new family members. Friends, cousins and college roommates have transcended friendship and now seem to be part of my extended family.

I will always treasure the family I grew up in and I am so grateful the growing family I have created. This week I became a Great Aunt as the family grew again. Welcome baby Sophie!