Family

You grow up in the same home...have the same parents...attend the same schools...

and yet, when everyone "grows up" you finally fit into the personality that has been developing this whole time...you travel down the road that only YOU can travel down...

Oh you still have the memories and you laugh at the family get togethers, but there's this transition of little siblings to adult siblings...and there are all these "new" things that everyone has to journey through, each in their own way...like parenting, finances...

I don't know about you, but sometimes family gatherings can be challenging...I"m just being transparent here...it's not because it's hurtful or that I dread it by any means...it's just that I'm used to my own little family, in my own little home...or spending time with friends of MY family and MY church, etc, etc...and when we get together with extended family, I have to fight the urge to just "travel back in time" to that comfort zone and talk about "good ole days" and I have to learn to find ways to connect in the present day.  

I know that not everyone is like me...and maybe I just put too much thought into things...it is what it is...

but, I will tell you that I have taken this family's pictures for a few years now and I love the way they are natural with one another...brother & sister...grown now into two different families (yet each with 2 girls)...And although those families are different, there is a similar thread of character and value that runs deep through them both...I see it in the bonds with the cousins...I see it in the way they are gracious with one another...I see it in the smiles of everyone...and I see it too, in the committment of all of them to come together and cherish the time they have with each other.

It's a blessing to me to know them!