Family Portrait :-)

It is a thing that I feared might never happen again, but on this day it did, hooray! My entire immediate family was together again on this day, for the first time in months and months!

I have given you a glimpse or two from time to time of my family. Here are a few of the highlights: a picture of my parents, (who have been married 65 years this summer) kissing, a photo of my dad and his two sisters laughing, and a picture of my parents reading us kids Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.

I tend to be a bit camera-shy myself, but you can also find three pictures on my photo blog that my husband took that include me: Dexter and me on the front porch, me stream sitting in my native habitat (which is to say amid Pennsylvania's wild woods and waters), and this one. To know me, you must know that I am part of this: this big, strange, silly, mostly happy family; this is where my heart lives.

This summer, things took a bad turn for our family when my oldest sister Barb became very, very ill and was hospitalized. I have written since then about the many journeys taken to visit her in the Harrisburg area, including this recent (pretty positive) update: I Love You to the Moon and Back.
 
It had been several weeks since I'd visited my oldest sister, and we were scheming to get together again. So we agreed to meet at my mom and dad's house, which is about half-way in between us. And while not every single person was able to be there, many members of my family turned up for a visit.

It was an afternoon where the clouds finally cleared out and the sun shone down upon us. In fact, the bright sunlight arrived (after several days of rain) just as we did! And we had a lovely visit, and everyone seemed well, and we even exchanged a few gifts. October is a big month for family events, featuring several birthdays and wedding anniversaries.

So there we all are: my oldest sister on the left, me (on this day at least, the happy girl with the biggest smile of all!), my older brother, my parents (my dad is 85, and my mom will turn 85 in two weeks) in the middle, my second-oldest sister (whom I lived with one summer when I worked at Knoebels) in her trademark pink, my youngest sister, and my third-oldest sister. The full set of us, all together again! It was a GOOD day, in which we were well blessed. We were and are very thankful. And we take none of these blessings for granted!

(And how long has it been since you visited the ones you love best? Hmm?)

The song to accompany this happy image of my family together and whole, enjoying the sunlight on our faces, on a late afternoon in early October is the Beatles, with All You Need Is Love.

P.S. Do you see the necklace I'm wearing in this photo? It was given to me by my sister Barb on this day. It is a circular silver necklace featuring a cut-out of the moon, with these words inscribed on it: "I love you to the moon and back."   :-)