Not quite peace on Earth, but it will do

If you look at the three of us, you might never know. An extremely successful hospital administrator who has held conversation with the likes of Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton, and other world leaders during her career. A medical chair technician who is covered in tattoos and rides with the 1%er's. And a project manager, who found his happy spot with a little red headed girl after nearly losing everything during a mid life crisis. The three of us are very different people, and those who do not know might never guess that we are siblings, all raised by the same college administrator and his medical assistant turned professor wife.

As we have gotten older and the family has grown in numbers, individual birthday and holiday celebrations have become almost impossible to pull off. So we have decided to combine several events at once into quarterly get togethers. We get together about every three months to visit and celebrate birthdays and any other special events that have occurred. And yesterday I had the pleasure of having everyone in my home.

This was the first time in recent memory that everyone has been in the same place at the same time. Since we lost our Mom in 2009, it seems as though we have each had our issues with the other two. And we all have said and done things  we wish we hadn't after. But we also know that none of us is perfect. And that the older we get, the fewer of these opportunities we will get. And that no matter what the issues are, or how long it has been since we talked, when Dad says be there, you need to be there. Thus, after a few months of instability, we had yesterday.

As I watched everyone laugh and talk, I realized how much my siblings and I really do have in common. We are all parents of growing families. And while we do not parent the exact same way, we can all tell that our children are the most important parts of our lives. We also all have a great deal of reverence for the man who chose to be our father 27 and a half years ago. And we all miss a mother who not only was all of our best friend individually, but who knew how to keep the peace between us collectively. She loved, and continues to love, all of us no matter where our roads might lead or what we might do.

As the party was winding down, the moment of the night occurred. As I opened the front door to go move my car, I looked back up the stairs into my living room and caught my brother and sister in a hug. Not a "Merry Christmas, see you next year" kind of hug, but a start to mending a lot of hurt that runs between all of us kind of thing. Snapshot memory of Christmas 2013.

I recognized the embrace well. I have shared the same with each of them in the recent past. And I will never forget seeing them in that moment as long as I live. While everything may not have been fixed yesterday, it feels like we are a lot better off than we were. And that will do for now. 

Day # 286. Tiffany is sick in bed today, so I have to pick up the slack. Its tough trying to fill the shoes of a red-headed Supergirl. Makes me realize how lucky I am and how good it is to be me!