Families

 I said that one of the things I've done in my life that makes me the most proud was the publication of the Lamplighter histories.  

But the other thing of which I am most proud is raising our kids to be responsible adults and especially even in their 50s, to be friends not only with Walt and me, but also with each other.

In writing about family traditions on Facebook recently, I posted a picture of one of our "train pictures" and someone responded "We have 5 all grown up, used to take pictures Christmas morning!! We still come together at Christmas and have a family portrait made!!"  Someone answered, "You have 5 too! Mine are scattered. Miss them ..." and I wrote  "Two of mine have died. Two are scattered and one lives with me (with his wife)/"  Her response was "I'm sorry. 2 of mine are estranged. 2 oldest . He's 63 and she's 62. Haven't spoken in 15 years. Betrayal of family estate."

Being on several Facebook groups and having lots of pen pals, it is so tragic to me how many parents are estranged from their kids.

I love that Jeri tries to fly out here from Boston whenever there is anything significant that happens with the family and while we rarely hear from Tom (who lives 400 miles away), he's always here for Christmas with his family and we are always with him on his birthday (and I've started watching 49er games because he is such a 49er fan).  And, of course, I don't know how we could exist without Ned in our lives these days.

I love what good friends the kids are to each other and I simply can't imagine how we could be estranged.  I love them too much...and they love us too.  

It always makes me sad when I hear that parents disown kids when they confess to being gay.  The kid that you loved yesterday you refuse to speak to today. How can that happen?  My sister was gay and though my parents didn't disown her, she didn't speak to them for several years because of it.

I hate that disagreements between kids and parents can be so severe that kids refuse to talk to their parents any more.

Maybe we've just been very lucky, but I love my children and can't ever imagine having nothing between us any more.

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