Laura on Life
We are family
By Laura Snyder
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[November 25, 2008]
This holiday season, what I wish for every
human being on the planet is that everyone gets to spend some time
with their family. Even more, I would wish that every person on the
planet had a family. It doesn't matter how that family is shaped or
how lopsided the family tree is. Some family trees are missing whole
limbs and sometimes the boughs may break, but family is a unit made
up of precious bonds that must be protected and cherished.
I imagine that the poorest people in the world are those who have
no family. How bereft one would feel if not for a sibling who makes
fun of your boyfriends, a grandmother who spoils you with cookies
that fizzle in your mouth because they have too much baking soda in
them, or an aunt who used to say, "My, how you've grown!" every time
she saw you. How incredibly bleak life would seem without a mom who
insisted on rubbing that foul-smelling Vapo-Rub on your chest when
you had a cold or a grandpa who recalled the "good old days"
whenever you mentioned e-mail or cell phones. |
What I wouldn't give to see, just once more, my father's scowl when
I backed into our trash cans while he was teaching me how to drive
30 years ago. I define family as being those people who would, to
the exclusion of all others, tell you things you don't really want
to hear.
They tell you when you're being a jerk, when you need to change
jobs, when you have treated someone badly, and when your feet stink.
They would tell you about something hanging out of your nose or
if the tag on the back of your shirt was waving in the breeze like a
flag on the Fourth of July. They will, of course, roll their eyes
and make you feel like an idiot, but they do that so they won't have
to punch someone else's lights out when they dared to try that.
Your family is your barometer for measuring how the rest of the
world may see you. They magnify our faults to the nth degree so that
our partly blind, partly narcissistic eyes can see those faults and
possibly try to correct them. Family members are the only people in
the world who don't care if they tick you off, and therefore, they
are the only ones who will tell you the truth when you ask, "Does
this make me look fat?"
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Only family would brush the dandruff off your shoulders and tell
you never to wear black because it looked as if a mini-blizzard had
touched down on your shoulders.
No one else would say, "You got a little sauce on your cheek,"
and then watch in amusement as you tried to eradicate the imaginary
spot.
"A little to the left. No, your other left. Higher. It's still
there. Try using some water from your glass. Nope. You missed again.
OK, you can stop now."
"Did I get it?"
"Get what?"
Of all the blessings in my life, the one I am most grateful for
is my family: the true constants in my life, the stalwart
distributors of truth in a world of politically correct pretenders.
To my family: I love and cherish each and every one of you, very,
very much.
To those who have no family: You are cordially invited to be part
of mine.
[By LAURA SNYDER]
You can reach the writer at
lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
Or visit www.lauraonlife.com
for more columns and info about her books.
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