Vacation

We are on vacation.

Me, my five kids, my mom and dad, my brother and sister-in-law and their two kids.

And other assorted cousins, aunts and uncles as they appear.

We have done this every year for as long as I can remember. It is the one deal-breaker in our family: We do vacation together. Every year. We have outgrown the tents and trailers that held us many years ago and have moved on to rented condos or houses. This year, we are living together for a week in a large second-row house. With a pool. It took a lot of pennies pinched together to make this one happen.

But it's well worth it. It's a touchstone for the cousins and siblings, who are growing older in ways that we don't claim to understand. As are we.

It's messy sometimes. But it is our family, it is our committment, and it matters. Probably more than most anything else I do the other twelve months of the year.

Feeling blessed today, with room to breathe and arms full of grace.