My granddaughter is going to be 9 this week. How could that be? It seems like only yesterday I received the late night call that she would soon arrive. My oldest sister will soon be 85. How could that be? I remember when it was I that was 9 and going to her house for Christmas dinner. She was a beautiful young woman then. In my mind’s eye I see the faces that joined me at her table—there are many loved ones who are no longer with us. I could have never predicted or imagined all of the new folks who were to join our clan in the years that unfolded. Yet, in spite of changes and transitions, common threads were being tightly woven that would create an impenetrable bond holding all of us all together. From generation to generation, an unspoken commitment to be there for one another, demonstrated by the way we have together climbed the mountains, struggled in the valleys, forgiven, cared, celebrated, overcome, ‘worked it out’, or just simply laughed our sides off. There are no perfect people among us, but we have one another’s backs. I am grateful that the sum of our family is so much greater than any one of us standing alone. In this fast-paced, social media frenzy and, perhaps, more superficial era, I hope this generation remembers the investment it takes to continue to build and maintain the stronghold that keeps a family whole.
Amy Wildman White 