we are family

It's good to be reminded of one's roots.

Family kind of does that, right?

Every year we gather at the same camp in Maine and eat the same foods, swim in the same lake, and play the same games.

In some ways we find we, too, are the same but in other ways we find we have changed since the last time we gathered. Some have new jobs, new babies, new homes. Some are going through new challenges like illness, aging, loss. Some are no longer with us.

But we find we are all connected through these strange family ties. We remind each other of our shared history and heritage. We reconnect and remember why we do this every year.

It's kind of amazing. This thing called family.

Grampa and his six siblings, circa 1988.