The Ozmerican Life

Ava was spending an afternoon at Grandma's the other day playing with her cousin Gabby. The phone rang...

Q: "Hello Walkingtons!"

........

Q: "It's Quaid."

........

Q: "Oh Hey Ava!!!!"

In those 3 words my mind went racing through the next 20 years... I just pictured them being of the age where they're no longer living in the same house. When they're living who knows where. When they need each other. I can't wait till they call up their brother and sister and talk about life. Talk about problems....probably call up and complain about mom and dad to each other:) Spending hours on the phone catching up about boyfriends, girlfriends, college, jobs, their own spouses and kids. A sibling relationship is special.

I don't think it happens on accident either. I know plenty of siblings who never speak to each other and really don't care to. When you're picking out a friend, you get to pick what qualities you want, which ones you don't. With a sibling you just have to take what you get whether you're completely compatible or not. And that relationship takes work and purpose. I find myself saying, "You WILL play with your brother!" "You WILL love your sister!"

I think it's a life quality...to be able to spend time and have relationships with anyone...whether they're "your type" of person or not. My parents did a great job encouraging those relationships, making sure we had family time...not letting us all run in different directions and never together. To this day we all still value time together.

And those 3 little words from Quaid...just another reminder of family time. It's not just about one evening, or one game played together, or one child being sad about not having a friend over because it's family night.

Every minute together is about building a lifelong relationship that will always be there no matter what.