Family of Origin

I just had a chance to spend about 6 days back in Canada with my family of origin. A great time with my Mother mostly and then a 50th birthday celebration for one of my brothers and so some time with all my siblings. It had been two and a half years since the last visit. Too long. It is great to go back to your roots when you can. In this mobile world we often get far away from family - although I have served recently in a place (Aurora, IL) where there is much stability community wide... more than I have usually seen. When you have moved far away I find it good to go back and reconnect. Re-establish the relationships (in our case we don't even do the letter/email/phone thing much in between) and remember the beginnings, good or not so good.

While there I spent some time with my Mom at my Dad's grave site in small town Alberta. Lots of family connections. It was good as we walked around to hear all the connections there were. Distance and budget don't allow as many visits as we would like but we take advantage of them when we can and would encourage the same for others. It is your beginning and has much to do with who you have become.