Richmond, VA/Family

Merry meet Friends!
Michelle here, bringing lots of love and light!

"Families are like branches on a tree.  we grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one." ~ unknown

"No family is perfect...we argue, we fight. We even stop talking to each other at times, but in the end, family is family...the love will always be there." ~quoteshunger.com

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing." ~geniusquotes.org

"Family is like music, some high notes, some low notes, but always a beautiful song." ~ quotezine.com

Earlier this week for the first time in a long while my manifested funds were very low.  All of my bills were paid but it didn't leave anything for food.  I was asking my sister about using some item in my refrigerator as I explained my situation.  Immediately my sister named what she was having for dinner and invited me to share. She called me two days later and invited me to dinner again which she would cook after work.  My sister and I started speaking again a few months ago after a lengthy period of not speaking.  I love my sister and I know she loves me but families can, do and will sometime have upsets.  Sometimes the coming back together makes the bond stronger.  My sister has a very generous heart and I believe if I needed her during that time of non communication, she would have been there as I would have been for her.

I started thinking about family when I attended my friend Cher's mom, 90th birthday celebration on Saturday.  I have known Cher since we were five and with the way things were back then, I knew her family also.  Ms. Rosalee is an exceptional woman and she and her husband, before his transition, raised strong, intelligent children who are successful.  Family and friends who chose to do so, spoke about Ms. Rosalee; friends told how they met her and how long they've known her.  As her children spoke about the type of mother she is, even though I know the accolades are true for her, I thought to myself, well all children would probably say that about their mothers at a function, even if not true.  I thought about that on my drive home.  It kept nagging at me.

As I continued to think about everything said about Ms. Rosalee and the thought I had about people speaking kindly of their mothers, I knew that not everyone would or could say those things. 
Families are not always close and children are not always close to their parents.  My father has transitioned but I wasn't close to him due to the divorce and his living out of the country.  I'm not particularly close to my mother.  My mother would always tell us that we could do and be whatever we chose in life.  However, she did not foster those words.  This is an observation not a condemnation.  We do the best we can with the knowledge we have and when we know to do better we do.  It was my mother's nonchalant attitude that caused me to be active with my children.

I was sharing my feelings with my oldest daughter, Zakiya.  I said it caused me to wonder what would be said about me at a 90th birthday.  She said that I should never wonder; that I did and am still doing an awesome job.  That brought tears to my eyes.  I'm glad that I have that type of relationship with my children.  I can see the genuine love that Cher and her siblings have for their mother and each other.  They are a close knit family extending to grandchildren and great grands.  My friend, Celest has that relationship with her children and grandchildren and so does my sister.  I don't have that with my grandchildren.  My grandchildren don't live in Virginia but that shouldn't stop relationship.  

I was honored to have been included in that celebration.  Ms. Rosalee was so happy to see me and gave me the biggest hug.  I used to go by there once a month and we would sit and chat.  I enjoyed our visits and I think I would like to resume them.  I am a believer that we choose our family of birth in order for us to experience what it is we need for our current life cycle. So maybe some of us don't have the families that others have or that we may desire but we do have what we need.  I know some are thinking they would not have chosen their families. However, if we could see everything as GOD experiencing life and knowing itself through us, as us, and that we are experiencing and knowing ourselves as GOD in us, as us, then maybe we will learn to appreciate, love, understand and bless our families as they are.  We are, after all, ONE!

Until next Sunday,
Merry part and merry meet again,
Blessed be,
Gypsi Mama Michelle