Family Matters

As Jennifer was taking care our our three sick kids (possible h1n1), I took the easy way out and ran up to Brigham City for my cousin's Stephanie's Funeral. She was 21 years old and was married and pregnant at the time of her passing. She was involved in a traffic accident where her side of the car was T-boned by an oncoming vehicle as the car she was in was crossing traffic. As I was sitting and listening to the different family members share talks and experiences of her life, I realized that it had been over 8 years since I had seen her last. With the one exception being the brief moments I met with family at my grandpa's Funeral last year. Most of my memories of her were vague and fuzzy and I had a hard time remembering all the visits we had had. It saddened me that here is my own family member and her inlaws have more experiences and fun times than I had and that aside from being related I barely even knew her.

I feel like my priorities of work and money have been out of place and that I had squandered 8 years of opportunities to get to know my own family and experience their lives and appreciate them for who they are. This Funeral yesterday made me want to put more effort into getting to know my own family better and strengthening these relationships.