Sandy, Miles, Nathan, Mike and Me outside Kerbey Lane

These are some of the far-flung members of my family. Sandy (my niece) and Miles are from Olympia, Washington and are here to visit us and then go to Galveston to visit Miles' dad. Maybe to stay there for a while....
Mike is working here in town ever since he got out of the army a few years ago.
Nathan is working here in town also in his own therapy practice. See his website at http://www.austintherapist.com/. More info to come.....

My niece Sandy and her boyfriend Miles visit

family neuroses and just plain love

I called my sister Cynthia today just on the spur of the moment when I saw her phone number. Didn't know I had her number. (She called me a year or so ago.) She answered and we talked. She relayed some disturbing family news. I was able to feel loving and be loving toward her and she reacted with tears and thanks. It moved me to be able to be in that place where I could offer her that. She's been through so much. She lives in Illinois now, near my father.

I wondered about her relationship to my father, who I have regarded warily and not trusted due to some incidents with him and my brother's feelings against him. But my sister seems to be able to maintain a relationship with him. The more I marveled at how one (wo)man's pride is another (wo)man's poison (or something like that), the more I realized that we all had someone.

We all had some kind of life even if it wasn't very pretty. I thought of an older friend I had who's been like a father to me and how I didn't want to let go of that friendship and counsel. I don't know my father and probably never will -- out of awareness of his mental/emotional limitations -- and my early fearful experiences of him -- but I do have someone that I hold in high esteem and look to for what I didn't get with him. And I emailed him that. Satisfying to let someone dear to you know what they mean to you. Both through words (with my friend) and through actions (with my sister).

Family portrait

Happy family. This is a picture of my brother and his family, which I took recently. It's amazing how they all have their own unique personalities and yet come together so well.

They are, from left to right, Damian, Laura, Nate, Devereux, and in front, Nathan.

It's one of those "treasure those moments because they'll be gone before you know it." But for now, life is all about youngsters growing into teenagers....