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            My family and I don’t talk. We meet and congregate and discuss. But we don’t talk. I know my grandparents because they live in the basement of our house where we constructed a miniature house for them, complete with bed, bath and beyond. People expect that I must see my grandparents all the time and talk to them frequently-but I don’t. I would love to and maybe I would if I had the courage to. If I had the courage to approach my family and tell them, “Look, we don’t really like each other we’re just forced to.” So is that how family is supposed to be or is it socially acceptable only because it’s the truth and no one wants to go through the effort to change it?

            I want those family dinners and gatherings where everyone is laughing and having fun. No one feels out of sort or isn’t having the time of their lives. I once went on a trip with my friend Kristina to a family reunion she was going to in New York. Everyone went to each other’s house on a different day and everyone had fun. People were laughing and they brought drinks, food and emotion. These nights were almost as if the people there were meant to be together and they deserved to be reunited. This is what a family should look like: connection. If a family is sitting around a table and the talk is awkward and constantly about “what have you done this year that’s exciting?” then that can’t really be called a family. Families know one another and they love each other but they also enjoy and interact with each other through out the whole year not just holidays when they have to.

            I honestly do not understand my family because we are just too good at pretending. Such pretense makes it horrible for the kids having to suffer through such mundane congregation. Even after all these years at age 17, my sister and I (who is 19) are still “the little kids” because we don’t care. We have never cared about what the hell you guys are talking about. Talk about something interesting for once. Forget the new washing machine you bought last week, forget the kind of dressing you used for the salad sitting on the table at this moment, and for goodness sake, forget the petty small talk that no one cares about nor does anyone want to partake in.

            When I have my children and when they come to see my sister’s children we will have fun and we will laugh and make sure that our children grow up happy and involved in our discussions. A lot of the conversation they won’t understand because maybe we’re talking about the way a raven is like a writing desk or we’re laughing about a popular joke from back in the day but we will not talk of history and how gas prices are up. We will not talk about our low income, the increasing hot weather or anything that can get us in a heated debate. Instead, let’s share a glass of wine and laugh about how silly our children are and what they talk about. Let’s be children for the children. When I’m an adult I won’t be one at all. I swear to my future children, my future husband, and my future family that I will forever try to engage humor and excitement into our lives. The absolute last option I will take, and not even willingly, is to have the boring, habitual, kill-me-now family reunions.

Reviews

[Kaylor Mason]

Hmmm . . . I agree. At my family reunions, we had to bring our rifles. Thank God for the ability to move out and live alone! My ancestors and relatives make Luke Skywalker's family look healthy and warm