Do You Know This Feeling

There is a branch of my family tree that has always entranced me, like they have some special secret or grip on a fascinating piece of history that no one else has.  But they do not.  I can't pinpoint what it is about this family, but they - to me - are like the Kennedys.  They are a mystical group of people who had, over the years, gained some sort of celebrity status in my mind.    

And yet, I ran into some of them this weekend and found, not surprisingly, that they are just like any of the rest of us. Their story is no more or less fascinating than any of ours.   They are happy and sad and joyful and hopeful and heartbroken, just as I am and just like you, reader, are. 
 
So, I'm not sure what intirgued me so about this particular family all those years ago.  They stood out like a blonde woman in a room full of brunettes.  Despite being maybe only 5 or 10 at any one time, it always seemed like there were hundreds of them.  They took over a room. Perhaps because they seemed to move so fluidly and consistently as one group, it was hard to separate them from their larger unit and, therefore, hard to see them as fallible creatures with weaknesses just like everyone else. 

Now I see in them the same sort of steadfast loyalty that my own family has for each other and I am grateful for it.  Grateful that they have it, because no matter how mysterious this family is to me - they are family and I want for them the best.  Grateful that I have it, that my parents and brothers and aunts and their families have it. 

Perhaps that is what makes any family seem larger than life - because in the end the one unit you create is actually larger than all the lives that make it.  And within that safe haven, you can truly be yourself and be accepted and safe and open.  And that is what makes family so very very special.