The glue that binds us together

I took a short hiatus from blogging because my family celebrated the recent marriage of a younger sibling. We had quite an enjoyable time, enabling us to rekindle dimming family friendships, and remind ourselves why we like living 2500 miles away from family.

I think this pondering posed long ago by my wife has merit: If you weren't related to your family (extended family), you probably wouldn't be friends.

People often take offense to the statement because of its harshness, but think for a moment about your familial relationships, and I'm sure that you'll realize the truth.

I come from a big family, with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I'm a twin, and the 2nd oldest sibling. Needless to say, we're an exceptionally odd cast of characters on our own, but when combined together, we make the Beverly Hillbillys look at ease in sunny Beverly Hills.

I make this point, because I've been thinking that some of the difficulties that many of us have is that we fail to realize that we are an assortment of mis-matched bedfellows. I think our oddities are the fabric that holds our disfunction together. When, and if, we forget about the "odd-ball glue," then our worlds crumble.

I'm not sure that there is much we can do to combat our complex and quirky idiosyncracies, but I do know that sometimes, it's good to be able to laugh at your siblings, shrug off their behaviors, and be glad you're not their neighbors (I apologize and pity those who live so close).