Family Time

It is so rewarding to set aside time to spend with our family. Family can take on many different looks -

• There is the immediate family, those around you each and every day.


• We have our extended families, perhaps across town or across the country.


• There are those we choose as family, relationships we've grown over the years.


• Each of our communities is a family of sorts, with us as members.


• The workplace can be a family, although it might be classified as dysfunctional. Not all family members have equal footing in this sort of grouping.

Whether your family is across the room or across the ocean, it needs tending and nurturing to grow into a healthy relationship. And as you would tend a luscious tomato plant, the attention you show it will come back to you in many fruitful ways.

In October this year, I've been privileged to enjoy three distinct types of extended family gatherings:

Two of my dear friends and I formed a "Puzzle Pod" a few years ago. We love to do jigsaw puzzles together, so after adding a puzzle to several outings a year, we finally decided to have weekends away to do nothing but catch up and puzzle. We catch up until the wee hours, until puzzle pieces are only blurry props in our woven tapestry of talk. Warning - never mistake a puzzle piece for a Wheat Thin!

Last week I returned from an annual retreat in Aspen, where people come from all over Colorado, the country and the globe to celebrate the music and the man, John Denver. Each family member has his/her own motivation - love for the environment, love of JD's music, love of any folk music, maybe even love of Aspen in the fall. Together, though, we form a warm, friendly group of people who see one another once, maybe twice a year. We catch up on everything from children to global warming. Pretty cool!

And this weekend I'm fortunate to get to spend time with my niece in Sacramento. We catch up over a cup of coffee and a Scrabble board. This is a long family tradition. My sisters and I teethed on Scrabble (and jigsaws, too, now that I think about it). Each of my sisters introduced Scrabble to their children, and now I find myself, from time to time, across from a dear niece, swapping stories of life as we create fascinating new words on the board. As with the puzzle warning above, however, never confuse a Scrabble tile with a Wheat Thin....

Whatever your family dynamic, work it, enjoy it, grow it. Write letters, email, hug. You will find the rewards to you and the other family members far outweigh any time you've taken out of your hectic day.