Dirty Laundry

Family is one of the things I never had too much concern over until I had a child of my own. Now it seems that the "relatives" I expose my 9 month old to are all important. I want Liam to have a better sense of Family than I have.

My father is an only child and both his parents died when he was 12 yrs old. He was raised by his Aunt and Uncle - my Nana and Papa - and though I loved my Nana dearly and spent quite a bit of time with her as a child I never had a good relationship with my Papa. I always felt like a orphan kid eveyone felt sorry for at family functions but never truely a part of that Family. When Nana passed away we never spoke to anyone on that side of the Family again.

My mother is one of 5 children of whom she only speaks to 2 of them - one out of charity and necessity (my uncle is disabled) and the other because he happens to be the most sane out of all of them (even though or perhaps especially because he lives in another province 1344.58 miles away). Leaving only a drunk (now passed) and a nut bag. This makes any Family event or occasion less than appealing. So we end up finding out about deaths, births and marriages often through a third party. Pretty horrible huh?

That being said I have little desire to subject Liam to anyone on either side of my extended family. Even when they call after not speaking to me for about 7 years.

I am often both stumped and awed at the closeness and almost militant love Peter's family has for one another. As I have come to know and love (almost all of) them I can understand it when there is nothing to get in the way. I am thankful that Liam will grow up surrounded by this love and family and not my own.