Family

A funny thing happens to me each year as my family’s annual reunion approached. Thanks to my Grandma and Grandpa Harker (who, in all of their wisdom figured out it takes a village to raise a child LONG before Hillary Clinton did), my extended family has enjoyed an array of different vacations every year, some of which include St. Lucia, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, rafting down the Middle Fork ofthe Salmon River, rafting down the Colorado (pictured above)…I think you get the picture. In this day and age where people are growing further apart from their extended family, my Grandparents provided us with a touchstone by which to lead our lives. Grandma and Grandpa knew that with busy lives, it is easy to forget the most important thing; family. It is always at this time of the year that I reflect on what my family means to me.

I plan my entire year around these trips, and I have never missed one, a badge of honor that I share with Grandma alone. I am not going to paint a rosy picture of our family vacations, because when you get that many people together who are all very strong willed (with the exception of my darling brother, Bobby), things tend to get explosive. To put it mildly.

So, you may wonder why I look forward to these trips each year, and there is a simple answer. I love being around the people who have known me my entire life, who I have a history with. Sure we may squabble, but at the heart of everything we love each other, otherwise these trips would not have lasted at least 30 years. I know that, even if I am disagreeing on a political issue with my Cousin Cheryl, she still loves me and I love her and we accept each other, flaws and all. Where else can you find that in this world?

I even look back fondly on the times our waiters took WAAAY too long to bring us our food, which of course drove the strong-willed Harker clan insane. Or the time we were promised a lakeside cabin, but when we arrived the lake had dried up so much it was at least a mile away. There were many, many boulders and I will never forget my Grandpa picking his way over the boulders in his business suit and fancy shoes to comfort me for something I cannot recall now. I look fondly at my Uncle Bill and his crazy hikes that I am certain the four branches of the military would find excessively strenuous, not to mention his crazy aversion to cheese which goes so deep he will not sit by anyone eating cheese.

I still laugh about the time my entire family left me at a restaurant, drove back to the hotel, and when the concierge came over to tell them their daughter was on the phone, they replied “we have all of our daughters”. You cannot believe the mileage one can get out of that when it was my Dad’s car I was riding in. Little tip: Do a head count!

Of course, my fondest memories are the ones where Grandma and I are left at the Inn while everyone else goes on one of Uncle Bill’s cockamamie hikes. I spend the majority of this time talking with my Grandma about her life, how she met my Grandpa, what my Mom was like as a child, etc…I have learned more from her than I could possible quantify.

In closing, I encourage each and every one of you to make the time to spend with your extended family. After all, they are the only ones in this entire world who call you one of their own, no matter what.