You know you take your family for granted when you are growing up. Mom, dad, siblings — they are always around. Why worry? But then you leave your home for college. It hits hard. You hold back tears and feel like a 5-year-old still hankering for mom’s and dad’s support. But, you hold on strong willing yourself not to break into tears. You are a grown up after all. You look forward to every break you get to head home. I remember I would take off even if I got a weekend. I was that homesick. You conjure images of the goodies that mom would prepare in anticipation and how you would spend time with them.
Each moment together begins to count when you live apart.
And then you get married. You now have a home and responsibilities of your own. You start your own family and get busy with your own friends, family, work and other things. The same parents and siblings you now meet perhaps once a year. And, it is never the same, now is it? In my case, even more so because mom is no longer around. I can only imagine the delight with which she would have eagerly anticipated her children coming over for vacations.
Last year, my father turned 70. We wanted to come together and celebrate just like old times, but we also wished to make it a surprise. Leaving our spouses and children behind, my sister and I headed over to my brother’s place. It required a lot of tinkering and freeing up our schedules. Our spouses pitched in enthusiastically to make this happen. There was another family function that we needed to attend. It worked as the perfect ruse for our celebration of his birthday.
The three of us had painstakingly planned his gift where our spouses had chipped in as well with suggestions. A lovely cake was ordered and flowers too. When he assembled his cake and his gift, we felt like little eager kids waiting to see his reaction. I still remember the look on his face was priceless when papa realized that we were all there to celebrate his birthday. The family almost felt complete. (I am sure mama was watching over us with a big smile.) That was a cherished get together of a family where the son and daughters made sure that a father was cherished and made to feel special. Dad does not speak much hence there were no lengthy thank yous. But we all felt warm and happy.
This was a rare and precious family gathering of children who had left the nest. All the siblings are now married. Hey, but when we get together we get along like a house on fire. It is like being little children once again sans the pranks. Something, I wish we could do more often but can’t due to something called life.
Truly, it was that power of being #together with our family that keeps us going strong come rain or sunshine.
Rachna says 
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