Finding Time For Our Families At The Holidays

A lot of people take the bus.

More are starting to take the train.

Most, if they can afford it take a plane.

Is this one of the reasons family life is struggling in America. Have we dispensed with what it takes to make a caring family and instead gone our own way to do our own thing. Have we lost both our way and our way back. Families are large, families are small, families are easy and families are difficult. One thing we may have forgotten is that families can be love and comfort and support.

My family has a friend whose family gets together every Christmas. They started out gathering with house parties and now they meet at a restaurant because the family is 90 strong. They take the time to see one another at the busy holiday. It's important to them and I'm sure this importance of family was passed down from a parents generation.

It doesn't matter the size of your family. I would say it's even more important to keep a small family together. Kids should know cousins and be able to count on Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, and Grandparents.

I ask myself, have we let economic need and other things drive us apart. What can we do to make more of an effort in guiding the next generation back to the family? If there is an answer I would like to know. Maybe it would save someone the heartache I suffer when I think of my family not just at the holidays but all year through. Or do we continue living our own lives with a sprinkling of family thrown in at the holidays.