Saturday, February 16, 2008

Splintering Off


Isn't funny how families begin to splinter off? I remember as a child that my mother and all her sisters would meet at their mother's house almost every Saturday. Of course over time the Saturday visits began to slow down, then it was only at Christmas and now that my grandparents are deceased, we rarely see our aunts, cousins, etc. Everyone has their own families and own list of issues, problems, jobs you name it.

My own brothers and I over the years have splintered off, even more so now that we have grown children that are either married or in college.

It has even happened within my own children. My daughter lives in Northern Kentucky, which is about 45 minutes south of my house. Her brother (my oldest) lives north of Cincinnati, about 45 minutes north of my house, and my two youngest still live with their mother who lives in Oxford about 40 minutes Northwest of my house.

Now the splintering off is becoming even more. My daughter called Wednesday evening. I thought maybe she was in labor, she is due anytime. But no, she called to share the news that her husband got a promotion and big raise. That is good news. The way things have been going for them, it is finally time they caught a break, financially. But, they will have to re-locate.

It's not like it's on the other side of the country, they are relocating to Columbus, Ohio. This is about a 2-hour drive. The bad news is that they are going to have to be there March 1. My daughter is due for her caesarian section on Feb. 27th. Nothing like relocating is there?

Families do grow, and as they grow they begin to splinter off into their own branches, going their own ways. It all happens pretty quickly too. But that is the way life is supposed to go.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's true. And I think there are certain family members who are the glue. Like in mine, it was my Mom. When she passed, the family started going their separate ways. It is a part of the life cycle, but sometimes it's depressing! Maybe being a childless gay man has part to do with it?

Anonymous said...

Splintering is rough...I once had family over in Thailand! Thank goodness for email, cell phones, etc...

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