Family Ties

I should be spending more time over at Cass's Midlife Musings. We have so much in common--mid life, children, and just plain insanity, or trying to avoid it. Her post today about remembering her grandparent's house and the things in it really brought back memories for me of my own grandparent's house. The living room covered in plastic. The wonderful antique pictures of family, and one of the things that my grandmother was so good at--keeping the family together. When she passed a few years after my grandfather, things kind of fell apart. Different segments of the family went their individual ways, and were rarely heard from or met up with again. That kind of thing would never have happened were my grandmother still alive. She demanded that family kept in close touch and communication. It seems less important now, but every once in awhile I really miss having that connection. The family unit seems so much smaller, and not just by that one individual.