the way of family

My sister put this picture up on her FaceBook profile, and I couldn't resist copying it here. I think she looks adorable (and forced, though goofy), I look apprehensive (as usual), and my poor then-boyfriend (now husband) looks a bit tortured, or maybe it's just bewildered. Such is the life of family gatherings.

From left: me, my mother, my husband, our Moldovan exchange student Alina, my sister, my father.


I have been thinking a lot about family, mostly because my own is changing so drastically.

Husband and I have doubled our own families.

Above: Husband's sister, Husband's nephew, Husband's brother-in-law, Husband's father and mother, me and Husband, Husband's (half) niece, Husband's (half) sister, and Husband's brother.


And maybe it was the sheer drive of a wedding, the way you are able to see your favorite people on several occasions, with all the preparations and parties heading up to the big day, but I'm glad to have reconnected with so many of my friends this summer. Our wedding party is full of treasures.


And then this relic: Kelly and myself in seventh grade (above). And below, Kelly and myself in July of this year.

The way Kelly and my lives have changed so much this year. We've worn the big white dress. We've added to our own families, and through the stresses of these kinds of planning, the venting and joys we have shared at odd hours, the regular phone calls and strange admissions, we have deepened an already lovely friendship.

Two thousand eight is creeping up--so close, so soon. I already have resolutions percolating, and hopes and goals and everything else. I have my best of list growing and my upcoming dates I anticipate. I know that 2008 has the potential to be a big one, for me, for Kelly, for everyone I love. Right now, it's good. Hope, potential. Right now, change has begun.