Do Mom & Dad Bloggers Make Better Family?

John, Paul, George and Ringo are keeping me company now singing about Maxwell’s Hammer, one sweet dream and golden slumbers.

And if I told you about Uncle Albert, Bands on the Run and more it would be one more step on my saying Maybe I’m Amazed but what would really shock me is if at least three people didn’t comment or email me to make sure I knew I mixed Wings with The Beatles.

Part of me feels like I need to qualify that by saying many of my readers have reached an age at which they are considered well seasoned and wise which is my way of pointing out my kids have called this old people music.

Mind you I have told them I dislike a lot of the modern crap they play which probably means the circle is now complete because it is not that long ago my father told me he didn’t like listening to my Pink Floyd tapes and wasn’t always enamored with Led Zeppelin either.

Do Mom & Dad Bloggers Make Better Family?

Since we are in the midst of the holiday season and I have been forced happy to spend time with assorted family members from all sides of my own I have come to realize I have reached a point in time at which it is clear to me that sometimes family is a giant-pain-in-my-ass.

It wasn’t always like this and I suppose I was lucky because for the majority of my life I looked forward to spending time with my family both near and far.

If you asked me to tell you what changed, who I am referring to and why I could do all of those things but I would ask you if it really matters. My blood relatives are mine and though I didn’t choose them I shall keep them because none of them have done the sort of thing that would make me cut them off.

Some of you might inquire what someone would have to do to be cut off by me and I’d tell you it is probably much easier than many people realize. I reached a place long ago where I recognized I don’t have time for people who do nothing but suck the life out of me.

I am not interested in drama and emotional vampires. I don’t suffer fools and I am very good at saying goodbye to those whose presence only creates negativity.

Yet if you are among the blood relatives or those who I choose to be part of my family regardless of genetics, well you are in luck because I am the guy who will stick it out with you.

It is the joy of being a Taurus and part of who I am.

Part of the giant contradiction of life and people.

A short while ago I listened to my few days before turning 14 year-old try to explain to my mother why he only wanted some aunts and uncles to come to his birthday and I thought about all of the mom and dad bloggers out there.

Thought about you guys and smiled because so many of you have stories that make that look tame.

Men And Pinterest

I cannot confirm nor deny that this conversation made me pull the Pinterest app on my phone so that I could search for a tasty beverage consisting of large quantities of alcohol.

Ya know that sometimes Men Use Pinterest too.

Of course the guy who wrote about the kind of life we should live recognizes it is not always easy and that it is made up of moments and layers that are sometimes bittersweet.

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My parents are still relatively young but old enough to have earned the senior citizen badges they hold. Most of the time I don’t think of them as being as old as they are but there are more moments where it is clear to me they have aged.

They ask for help with things they never used to and are unfiltered. In days gone by they weren’t so quick to let little irritations be known and yet things that once set them off are laughed at.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love them and am grateful to have them both. It is no longer uncommon for friends of mine to have buried one or both of their parents so I recognize I am lucky.

My children have been taught and shown the importance and value of family. I have made it clear to them that you do for family because sometimes they are supposed to be there when no one else is.

It is a lesson we have learned from personal experience and from those close to us.

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Three years ago I stood in the ICU and held my little sister. My brother-in-law, her husband was on life support and we had no clue whether he was going to make it.

I remember my then five year-old nephew telling me how he had snuck out of bed and found his mommy crying how he asked me why his father wasn’t there to help.

Memories of those moments remind me about how sometimes you marry into crazy because my sister’s in-laws are not good people.

It would be kind to say they came unglued because their son was on life support but it would be a lie because those motherfuckers were bastards long before that moment.

Things worked out and my nephew didn’t lose his father and my sister kept her husband but that memory left a bad taste in my mouth because of how very horrible those people were.

I knew better because I learned from the best.

“Grandpa’s death certificate will say something about natural causes and that is ok. But the true cause of death is a broken heart. He missed grandma terribly and even though she was gone he used to talk to her photo. But it would be unfair of me to paint a picture that didn’t describe him as trying to live a vibrant and active life without grandma. She was his best friend but even in her absence he did what he could to get the most out of his days.

But no matter how fast we run time is always faster and it caught up to him. He Died A Hero

The music has moved from the Fab Four to ELO and I am listening to them sing It is a Living Thing and that is my cue to get off of the computer and converse in person with others.

G is in town and I am going to track him down because after 40 years the man isn’t just a friend, he is family.  See you in the comments or around cyberspace, I am out.