FAMILY

I was not going to post today, but I saw that my cousin Gregory (yeah, he will never be a Greg to me) commented on my last post. It got me thinking...My dad's family are just as funny as their name. We all find some connection, but really do not see each other much and when we do see each other, it's like why do we not have a get together? My grandparents had only 3 children each is 6 1/2 years apart. My aunt Carla Jean, perhaps the nicest, quietest woman I knew died more than 10 years ago at 65ish, had 5 children who all had children. I have 2nd cousins older than I am. Jim (now James) had only one child Gregory (I think that I am the most drawn to him-he is the one I see the least, but probably have the most in common with), then the baby my dad, Jerry, who has this desire to pull everyone together and make everything good.
Gregory and I have an experience that few people in 1 family (especailly this small) share. We are both NICU parents, or should I say survivors. We both had children (me one, him two) that came too early and were too small and had to spend time with tubes and wires and alarms...We both had to take in a huge amount of bad news and deliver it to other people, who "just knew everything would be OK", when in reality things were not OK. I say very little about my NICU time to many, but I know that Kristina and Gregory know that know exactly what I am talking about. The journey is long and hard, the outcomes are never as you expect. I remember the exact day, January 11, 2007, that Benjamin had finally been home 74 days-he had been alive for 147 days (73 in the NICU) the relief...
Anyway, I think about family and the family of friends that we all have and find unable to live without and it is amazing the joy and concern that we have for all of them. Levi, out of the blue asked be what happened to the 2 babies in that place with the mountains. Of course, he is ready for another vacation so he wants to go see them...
always amazed by what we all think of...