family reunion

I spent this past weekend in Moline, Illinois for my nephew’s high school graduation and a family reunion. It was so great to see nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and cousins that I had not seen in years. I have quite a large family on my dad’s side, and no one lives even close to New York, so keeping in touch can at times be difficult.

My father had an entire life before me and my mom. I was born many years after all of my half-siblings. In fact, most of my nieces and nephews are even older than me! Can you believe that I’m only 23 and I’m somebody’s great uncle?!?!? Needless to say, I’ve sometimes wondered where my place is on this side of my family. I grew up in a different generation and in a different part of the country than all of my siblings. Not to mention that I have a pretty unique personality and outlook on life anyways. Ever since my dad passed away, when I was 13, I’d kind of felt like I was no longer a part of his family.

Well, a couple weeks ago, I received a message from my nephew and an e-mail from my niece, both inviting me to attend this reunion. At first I didn’t think I wanted to go, but then I considered that taking initiative to connect with my family was my responsibility too. My nephew and niece had reached out to me so now; I had an opportunity to make an effort of my own, and actually make an attempt to get to know some of my relatives a little better. Although I was only in town for a few days, I truly felt like I was able to bond with my family. For the first time, I feel like many of my family members got a chance to know who I am and what I’m about (keep in mind it’s nearly been 5 years since I actually spent time with many of these people).

Of course I value and love my friends as if they are my family; they are the people I spend the most time with and I care for them deeply. And I absolutely adore my mother and my youngest brother (my mom’s son) whom I spent a lot of time with growing up. But I’m realizing that perhaps, as humans, we have an instinctual and subconscious bond to the people we’re related to; regardless of whether or not we’ve spent a lot of time together. We have the choice to ignore that connection or to nurture it, and embrace it. Despite the fact that I haven’t seen some of my family in years, I felt an instant connection revived this weekend. Somehow, I could just feel that I naturally shared something deep and common with so many of my relatives. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to experience this connection, I’m beginning to truly appreciate the value of family.

Below are some pics from this weekend.