Family Ties

Now that I am here in Indy and am for the first time in my life not busy (tell that to the millions of boxes waiting to be unpacked), I have had so many hours to think and reflect during the quiet of the day.

I've always known that material things do not bring you happiness. Material items are often fun and money does make life easier, but just as children get bored with their latest acquired toys in such a short time, material items really do not mean anything in the long run.

I've been thinking a lot about this as I ponder what to do about a job and whether or not I should look for a new one given our new circumstances (I am still waiting to post more about this on a future post) in this new city.

I know that I am the youngest of three and of the three kids, I had it easiest with respect to the financial situation my parents were in when I was brought into this world. All of the kids ended up being good responsible adults, but I wonder at times at what cost. My parents worked many, many hours and were not home a lot while I was growing up. They sacrificed many things to give their kids a better life. The memories that I have of growing up as a child are very different than that of other families-families that took the time together to go on vacations as a family. Not to say that I don't have happy memories from my childhood, but I can't say that we took any family vacations because my brother and sister are so much older than I am. The closest recent memory I have was taking a trip a few years ago to Denver to visit my brother, and at this point a few years ago, my dad now has anxiety over travelling and can't relax when he does travel.

I've come to realize that my parents did the best that they could and did what they thought was the best for all of their kids when they worked those long hours in the restaurant that helped put all three kids through college, and I do really hope they know how much I appreciate what they did for me.

Yet as I think about my own future and the family that I want to have in the future, I know that the time that you can spend as a family is so important during the early years creating memories that can last a lifetime-more so than any material item.