After Mom’s funeral Tuesday, somebody said we needed to get a picture of all of the siblings together. We are in order…looking at the picture, the left side is the youngest, and going to the oldest on the right. My sister was truly sandwiched in the middle…3 boys first, then her, then 3 more boys. We’ve taken plenty of family pictures over the years. But this one felt different…Memories came to a head! Growing up together. Mom and Dad. The things you got in trouble for. Holidays. Who you’ve each become. How rarely everyone is in one place anymore. And now the strange realization that you are the generation at the top of the family tree.
Dad has been gone now for 12 years. Mom is now missing from this picture…but she’s also the reason the picture exists. We gathered this week because we lost Mom. But as I looked around, I realized I was also looking at what Mom and Dad had given us. A family. Not a perfect family. No family is. But ours. We have already made plans for my siblings to get together with each other every year.
For the first time, neither Mom nor Dad was standing with us for the family picture. And yet somehow, they were all over it…
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of Newest Streak: # 935