This Is What Family Is....

I think that people, many times, have a romanticized idea of what family is. I mean, Hollywood either paints it idealically or as a tragic disaster in movies and TV; and whether we admit it or not, that's what most people use as their measure, even subconsciously.  Truth is, family is usually a combination of messy and beautiful, at the same time. 

I mean seriously, families are made up of humans that share many traits, but they're also very different in almost every way. Introverts, extroverts, quiet, loud, control freak, scattered, messy, neat as a pin, animal lovers, not so much animal people, artsy, analytical, financially sound, always broke, early all the time, always late, meat eaters, vegans, liberals, conservatives, sports-minded, inside only, readers, book haters....you get the idea. A family is its own little society all sharing limbs on a tree.  But the beauty to this little microcosim of society is the bonds that tie them all together. 

See the picture up there?  Tess's car broke down this afternoon in the middle of that intersection. She called me right away; problem was, I was in the middle of a hair appt. I called Craig; he was across town at the barn with the girls doing their barn chores, I called Sarah, who immediately copped a U-turn to head to her sister to help. A nice guy helped push the car out of harms way while waiting for everyone to get there. Sarah arrived first, soon followed by Craig and the two younger ones. I hurried fast as I could and arrived about half an hour after she called. I parked in the coffee shop parking lot across the street and snapped that picture as I walked over to my FAMILY. Yes...our entire family was ther, all six of us, to help one who needed help right then and there. There was no hesitation and no complaints about it. Help was needed, and help arrived in force. That is the beautiful mess which is FAMILY. 

Let me describe the last 24 hours: Sarah had locked her keys in her car at midnight last night when she went out to get her hoodie. Since she needed to be to work early today, it meant waking up Mimi so I could get the spare key. Then Tess's car breakdown today...which was drawn out by AAA giving the tow truck driver the wrong location, hence making it a two hour+ ordeal, and her still needing to get to the gym to coach tonight.  Her sister took her to work, her dad stuck with the tow truck (who incidentally wrote her address down wrong AGAIN and got lost AGAIN), and I hopefully helped to diffuse some tense moments along the way with all involved (not always succeeding, but trying nonetheless). That is the picture of a real family. It's not picture perfect, Pinterest worth, or something you'd see splashed all over Facebook and Snapchat. It's real, raw, vulnerable, and yes, even humorous...especially when the day culminates in your daughter and her boyfriend driving home, coming up on the busy intersection a block from her home, only to see her 100lb black lab having the time of his life running thru yards and darting thru traffic. YIKES!!!!!  Really not the way you want to end a totally no good, horrible, really bad day. Once you take a breath however, you look at a stupid picture of a broken down car, with your other daughter's  car behind it followed by your husband's; you see your entire family standing on the medium and you realize that you wouldn't have it any other way. Broken down cars, escaped dogs, grueling days aside, it's still a beautiful sight to behold...your crazy, chaotic family pulling together like they always do :)

P.S.  Doug was captured and is home safe and sound, all tuckered out and snoring;)