Some things your just better off not talking about.

As you might have realized from my blog yesterday, I have a rather large family on my mother’s side. When I was a child we had huge holiday gatherings at my grandparents. Now that all of the cousins are grown and everyone is sort of spread out all over the place, we don’t get together as often as we use to. Most of my cousins have children and grandchildren of their own and holidays are spent with their own extended families. Some of us are sad when we think back to those days and feel like our children and grandchildren are missing out somehow. But I think they are making those same kind of memories with their families. They are different, but somehow still the same.

Like any family we have our misfits, outcasts, goofballs, black sheep, and just plain ole crazy. We fuss, we fight, and we have disagreements.  Occasionally we take offense at things we say to each other. We get our feelings hurt. We sometimes stop talking to each other for awhile because of it. But eventually we get over it or someone plays the peace maker and all is well with the world again.

My family is full of rednecks, bigots, loud mouths, obnoxious, sweet, kind, educated, giving, and caring people. We laugh, cry, and shout at each other.  Sometimes we just don’t like each other. But we are family and we stick together. We can take over a waiting room in a hospital at a moment’s notice. You’ll know all about us and we’ll know all about you before our loved ones are well and back in their own homes. If we lose a family member in the hospital we will keen like a tribe of Indians. We spill out of the rooms at funeral homes and take over every available seat in the place just like a band of gypsies. When we gather somewhere people take notice. Some of us make bigger spectacles out of ourselves than others. But we don’t care what the world thinks.

There is a lot of fodder for a blog in my family. But I have to be careful. It’s best to talk about funny things that happened when we were very young or maybe things that happened to our grandparents, great aunts or uncles. There are things I could tell or opinions on family members or events that I would throw out there, that as an outsider you might find interesting or amusing. However, if I don’t want to be lynched at the next family gathering I will just keep those to myself.

I could write a blog about each and every member of my family and I think you would find it interesting. Of course everyone has a story to tell. But I think I’ll keep my mouth shut and my fingers still and stay in the loving fold of my family.