I am always renewed by a day with the Matics-Lambert-Horne (MLH) clan. My aunts, uncles, and cousins (cuzzies) are all truly one of the best parts of my journey through this life. At every age, I have been thankful for this gift of my extended family...yet as I age, I come to them with more and more gratitude and nuanced understanding about that gift. I realize now that we are as bonded as we are because of the good choices my aunts and uncles and parents made years ago, because of the priorities they set. I realize now how these priorities took courage and belief in something greater than themselves as individuals. My aunts and uncles and parents stayed married to their spouses, they placed family above the obligations (ultimately) of work and material conquest, and they made sure all eight of us cousins had the time and space to be together often and to grow together. My dad and his siblings made a choice to IMPROVE upon the definition of family that they knew. That takes courage and foresight.
Now that I am thirty years old and have two children, the gift of this legacy is even more pronounced and poignant. To have a loving blanket of extended family to wrap around my children is a gift beyond compare.
I am thankful.
Meeting Uncle George
Cousin Meredith
Cousin Johanna
With Daddy
Cousin Brandon
With Aunt Donna
Festivities
With Aunt Diane
With Aunt Cheryl
Meeting Uncle George
Cousin Meredith
Cousin Johanna
With Daddy
Cousin Brandon
With Aunt Donna
Festivities
With Aunt Diane
With Aunt Cheryl
