Blessings One by One

I am not a model mother or grandmother, or for that matter, a model wife or daughter. When it comes to the list of things that one is supposed to do and be as a model female relative, I have flunked big time. 

I don’t cook or bake particularly regularly, firing up the kitchen to make that perfect birthday or holiday meal that everyone eagerly anticipates.

I used to do Christmas with the tree, ornaments, and wrapped presents, but those years vanished long ago.

My kids and grandkids cannot look forward to a birthday card or present. Presents happen when I chance upon them in my travels.

My son and daughter-in-law are the attentive parents to our four grandsons. They do a great job being present everyday to those four boys and enriching their growing up years, at home, at school, and with friends.

My mother tends to home and hearth at our house, where she, my brother, my husband, and I make a multi-generational family unit. It gives Mom purpose and importance to be the center of a household once again in her elder years.

Model anything is nothing more than a bunch of stereotypes that harm and guilt people who are doing their best to find love, companionship, and good times in a challenging world full of challenging family situations. Let’s agree to stop counting what’s missing and begin counting what we are blessed to have.

I am writing to give thanks that I have a whole family, with many family members, who each do their part to make the family function. I feel badly that many people lack a family of their own. Sometimes, that’s all that someone needs, to be included in our families as family members of choice. To be chosen to be loved and embraced. Think about it.