In a Blink

 

This month, I've been keeping a close eye on the calendar. With so much on the schedule, the month is flying by. In a blink, it will be Christmas and I am hardly ready for that big event. After all, I just spent ten days—despite the pressure of impending holidays—on a special trip to Florida, where I got to visit with family and celebrate some special events. Times like that make a pleasant detour from the requirements of holiday preparations, yet create more pressure with every passing day not on task.

Traveling always gets me thinking, especially as I expand that ever-growing family tree. How many people in the airport do I pass who might be my third or fourth cousins? They are just a blip on the radar of the many faces of strangers I see in the passing crowds, and just as fleeting an entry among the many collateral relatives who fill my family tree.

Among the family members we visited on this journey was my ninety one year old—and oldest—cousin. I can't help but recall memories of him in his younger years. It was he who first introduced me to the tongue-in-cheek label of "outlaws" as a way to explain the connection between in-laws of in-laws. He was one of several cousins and siblings who had chased for years after that family mystery of my paternal origins—Polish, not Irish as my grandfather's story had always portrayed it. If it weren't for this cousin sharing old photographs, I would never have known what my paternal grandparents looked like, for they died before I was even born. This is a cousin who treasures his family history.

Ninety one years of a full life may be a remarkable achievement, not to mention a blessing of good health and fortune. But even notable situations like that may be gone in a blink, making such moments as this all the more a treasure. I often hear people complain about "having" to visit family over the holidays; perhaps, on the contrary, it is an unrecognized blessing to be able to spend time with relatives. Sometimes, we don't recognize it until—blink—we can't do so any more.