Family

I'm feeling a little better today.  Going to my family's Christmas party was a challenge because I wasn't feeling all that great earlier.  Right now, it's just my typical nose issues.  Ah well, I just got to let it run its course, right?  Our family party was entertaining as always.  The little great grandchildren were adorable.  We enjoyed watching their antics and playfulness.  I can't believe how big they're getting.  The two oldest are  now nine.  My grandmother has two almost decade old great-grandchildren.  How surreal must that be?

We hired a photographer for this year to get some group shots of the family.  Dave took photos in the background and my mom posted a couple on Facebook.  I'm excited for some of the ones the photographer took though.  It's always nice to see everyone and this year everyone was actually able to come which is unheard of as the family has grown to 46 people (only first cousins).  Almost all of us started with just two people: my grandparents who had six children who went on to have twelve children of their own, and now there are eight great-grandchildren.  This isn't including the spouses.

How cool must it be to be able look upon all of us and think of the pivotal role you played?  Dave and I won't ever have that experience.  I mean, unless we start pumping out the babies now or have multiple sets of triplets (they don't run in the family so I doubt it).  By the time my grandparents were my age they had four children.  I can't imagine.  Having them so young has allowed them to not only see half their grandchildren marry but also see eight great-grandchildren come into the world.  Unless we are able to extend our life-spans during my lifetime, that won't be something I'll be able to see for myself.  Like I said, there's the remote possibility of us having multiples who could have children at a very young age who could grow up and also have children at a young age.

Even if we were to have a child within the next year, there's a small chance I'll be able to see any great-grandchildren.  I mean, I'm twenty eight and if my child waits until he or she is twenty eight to have her own child I'll be fifty-six years old.  If my grandchild has his/her child at twenty eight,  I'll be eighty four years old. I suppose that's not impossible but that would be if each of those children decide to have kids.  My grandmother is eighty four right now.

On the other hand, I've had the opportunity to experience things my grandmother never got the chance to experience like college and travel.  She would have thrived in college.  Now that I think about it, I've probably traveled to more places in my twenty-eight years than she has in her eighty four.  She never really got the chance having her children so young and far apart in ages.  I doubt she regrets it in the slightest.  I think she was happiest whenever she was with my grandfather.  He's been gone almost two years now and she tears up all the time when she thinks about him.

Sometimes having six children (the youngest was born when the oldest was 17) can really strain a marriage.  I'm sure it wasn't always easy but they made it through and I think they loved each other as much in their final years as they did when they initially married.  Maybe more.  My grandmother never went to college, traveled the world, owned a home, or even drove a car but she married a man she never stopped loving.  A man who gave her the world and a large, wonderful family.  I think, in many ways, she is far richer than some of us "modern women" who value so many other things more than family.