Thankful Nov. Day 28: Thankful for Family

credit: my parents/ sending my sister off on her way to the Navy bootcamp

I know some have probably been thinking that I’ve been forgetting the most important parts of life when I hadn’t been thankful for friends and family. I’m just of the belief I like to save the best for last. I just feel it’s most appropriate to be thankful for family ON Thanksgiving.

My family is pretty dysfunctional. My parents are divorced, and there’s plenty of other difficulties that I won’t go into details about. My dad’s side is pretty cool but no one lives close to one another so it’s a bit more complicated to hang out and whatnot. Given the circumstances, it’s not always so easy to get along and there’s times when things are so not fun.

Despite the miscues, miscommunications, periodic unhappiness, I love my family. I’m very blessed to have a great relationship with both my parents. I have a tight bond with both and have a chance to talk with them about whatever is going on in my world. My parents have also always been very supportive of me and all my endeavors. They’ve also always done what they can for us kids and helped raise good people. My parents couldn’t always agree on things but they have always agreed on making sure they encouraged us to pursue our hopes and dreams. They supported us in all our endeavors – soccer, band, t-ball, Boy Scouts, hockey, whatever it was, they were there for us.

credit: stranger lol but my camera; me and mom at a bronco game going all nuts in advance. it’s our thing

My sister and I don’t always get along. In fact, unfortunately, these days we don’t have much in common and contact is minimal. I do have lots of fond memories though. One of my favorite memories is several years ago, she came out to visit during October and right before Halloween. This was before her two kiddos. She and I ended up going to four or five haunted houses that year. Holy crap we got the tar scared out of us! It was such a great time. I’ll always treasure that. There are still times when we can enjoy a laugh or two and I’m grateful for that.

My brother and I get along pretty well. We can talk about the goofiest things like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “The Hobbit.” We love to compare notes on movies, music and other entertainment. We’ll sometimes just hangout playing video games together. I love it when my mom, brother and I get around to playing “Scene It” or some other game. We just have a lot of fun. He and I also get around to talking about family and live and things that are bothering us. There’s a trust there and I’m grateful for that. I can lean on him and he can lean on me and that’s a really great thing to have.

There are plenty of good times and memories with my mom’s side of the family. I love my mom’s parents. Sadly, my grandpa passed away more than two years ago now (he’s the one who nicknamed me Stormy – read it here). I loved him so much and I miss him all the time. I love my grandma. She’s been very good to me. My dad’s parents have also been very good time. My time here in California has provided me a chance to see my Grandpa Bill more than I have in my past. This has been great for having the chance to get closer and spend time together. I definitely have some great memories with Grandma Margarita also – both enjoying “Murder, She wrote” back in the day and all those times hanging out in Taos, NM. My cousins on my dad’s side are pretty darn amazing! They are all (all four of them that is) are amazing musicians! In fact, my cousin Anna, recently released her first album. You may look her up – she’s Anna Lynch and the album is self-titled. She’s pretty awesome. I’m sure the other three, Hannah, Louisa and Joey, will soon follow. There’s been jokes of forming a band with the four of them – it certainly could happen.

credit: someone in my family lol; my dad (in the green hawaiian shirt, myself in the sunglasses and my cousins and my brother (off to the right) just hanging out during the summer; good times! my cousins have grown up to be very talented musicians! all of them 🙂

I’m definitely very lucky to have good family. We’re not perfect and we don’t always get along but there’s still plenty of love to go around. I’m grateful for that!

On that note, here’s “Danny’s Song” by Kenny Loggins, which I think fits perfectly.

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