Family

Before the “Virus” I was having dinner with my family and I looked around the table and thought how fortunate I am to have such a great group of people in my life.

Thanks to my parents, I have a pack of relatives whom I am fairly certain would pull me out of Lake Michigan if I were caught in a rip current. I say that while at the same time realizing these are the very same people I have cursed to the depths of hell. What is that about? I think it’s the deep-seated notion that my parents drove into all of our heads, we are family no matter what and we were not allowed to disown one another! My dad would tell us stories of some distant relative who stopped talking to their brother over some perceived slight. Both he and my mom demonstrated the “family first” tenant and the three of us kids went along with it.

Now don’t get me wrong, there have been some times that shunning or self imposed distancing was warranted. For example, the time when one Halasz sibling ratted out another for having an illegal substance hidden in their dresser drawer. Not only ratted them out, but chose to tell the parent whose occupation was law enforcement! Another time one of us thought it would be funny to give my sister’s toddler a sippy cup full of pickle juice instead of milk. And said toddler began to puke all over the kitchen floor! In 2010 my brother-in-law happy danced his way to Shunsville as his Michigan State football team vanquished our Notre Dame team with a trick play in overtime. And finally, the million times one of us chose to shout very colorful obscenities at the others during our mothers heart breaking battle with ALS. Somehow, through it all we always found ourselves back on the path back to loving each other.

Additionally, I have been blessed with what I refer to as my “bonus family.” They came to me through my relationship with my partner, Dan. These kooks are as varied as a bag of mixed nuts. Our unique blended family is just a couple notches up from The Modern Family though nobody’s picture is on the wall at the post office (yet). We are a mix that works because the matriarch, Tootie, led by example; we are a family no matter what, no matter who.

Both sets of parents, the West’s and Halasz’s, wished for us to carry on when they were gone. Be a family no matter what. These days “No Matter What” is taking the form of social distancing. During this isolation my family has grown by one. A sweet little niece who I have met through the blessing of FaceTime. The normal run to Indiana to hold her is on the back burner for now. I’m sad but nowhere near as sad as her grandparents who are right there and can’t hold her because of this crazy virus. Dan’s side of the family is connecting through text messages and hourly check-ins from all. At first the constant ding of my phone was a bit irritating but now I feel lost if I don’t see a text chain each day. Last night we had a wild game of Charades via Zoom (included everything from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to Feliz Navidad, and of course the traditional Dick Butkus).

As I end this, I am reminded that I have to call my brother Jim and apologize for calling him a butt head, he made fun of my newly created piece of art, saying, “Why does the mermaid have a beard?” Anyone with half a brain can see that the Old Man and the Mermaid are wearing face masks! See photo below. By the way, this is a photo that goes with our pod/video cast on YouTube, link here to listen!!!! Be safe my friends xo

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGFotD04V-paK_gowb5BXag?view_as=subscriber