The other day when I was bringing a bag of wrapped presents to the UPS Store to ship to South Florida, the packer commented "You have a big family there." (with full Brooklyn accent, where 'there' is pronounced 'they-ah'). I smiled, as realized he was right.
A few years years ago, when our family of four first began celebrating Christmas with my brother-in-law Travis' family, a couple of weren't quite sure how things would go. Turns out, quite well. A couple years later after some Christmas Eve cocktails my brother-in-law informed me that I "needed to marry someone Jewish, who has no family or hates his family (!)" so we'd always be together and "not have to be with his squad every other year." And as Jason (who is my sister's brother-in-law, in other words - Travis' sister Stacy's husband) pointed out "You've even scored some godchildren out of the deal".
Life expands and families do too with new lives who've entered the world in the past 10 years you cannot imagine life without. And in-laws, out-laws, cousins, grandparents, step-parents, boyfriends, girlfriends and all the people you're not technically related to, but who you love, and are family to you.
Sometimes of course things are much less picture perfect like above, especially when there's a pack of kids powered by sugar and lack of sleep, ambitious schedules and adults who need naps too! And like in every family, sometimes this includes stepped on feelings, and years of expectations and dynamics, and all that comes with that too.
Though as I was looking at the video I created last year for the kids, the thing about families is despite minor holiday squabbles or years of issues in the making, when you're fortunate enough to keep adding people to your life, with any luck you realize the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.
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