Family Time

My apologies for not being around this past weekend; did I miss anything?

This weekend was taken up by a tradition we started last year of a weekend-long family get together. Not the whole family; just the siblings and Mom.

We sort of realized a a couple of years ago that the siblings were not able to interact as siblings anymore, even when we were able to get together. Spouses and kids, and grandkids were all demanding of our time, and we felt it was important to chillax and be just us for a while.

We rented a lake house for the weekend, didn't plan anything but meals and started arriving late Friday afternoon and were all there by early Saturday afternoon. All, save one. One sibling had a sudden emergency crop up and couldn't join us- an absence we felt all weekend- but we started the party on time, with her blessing.

The first thing we did Friday when we arrived was to start eating. We stopped eating Sunday at 3:00; so we could start cleaning up and preparing to leave.

We pushed the dishes out of the way on Friday night to start playing games, and quit playing at 3:00 on Sunday too. Card games, board games (but nothing standard; no Monopoly this weekend) and some games that would almost fit a Dungeons and Dragons mold. But not D&D!

We played games, we ate, and we talked. Old stories were reshared, new memories were made, and we laughed. We laughed at what others said; we laughed at what others did; we laughed at old jokes and new (a Roman walks into a bar and holds up 2 fingers and says 5 beers please; and we laughed. Go ahead, figure it out).

We spent, for the most part, 48 straight hours never out of sight or ear shot of each other. 8 of us. If there was a cross word in the group I never heard it.

And the weekend ended too soon. One sibling had along drive; 2 more had responsibilities at home to spouses and young children, and there was a cleanup and straightening to do, and a Monday to prepare for.

Sunday was like growing up again. Each sibling left the lakehouse like they had home; one at a time, for different reasons and different destinations, and each departure left a hole we struggled to close.

And then we went around closing up the house; checking for locked windows and doors, closing blinds and checking faucets, until the last one out shut off the last light and locked the door behind them.

And just like when we had left home years ago, our paths diverged.

But for a while, for a weekend, we were just Mom and the kids.