Brothers and Sisters

A friend of mine made the mistake of telling me that you can watch full length episodes on ABC.com. I finished watching all of the Grey's Anatomy episodes. And, then, I found a new show-- Brothers and Sisters. All that I knew about it was that Sally Fields and Calista Flockhart are in it. What I wasn't expecting was to fall in love with the Walker family and all of their idiosyncrasies. Sally Fields is the mother of a large brood of kids who is dealing with her husband's death and with it the death of her idyllic life as she discovers that her family isn't necessarily who she thought he was. What they also discover along the way is how much they love each other and depend on each other.

What I see when I watch the show is the ever changing dynamics in my own family. I am a daughter, a sister, a stepsister, a stepdaughter, a confidant, a best friend. I have a different connection with ever person in my family and they have a different connection with each other, too. My relationship is different than the one that my brothers have with her. But what is important, is that they have a relationship with each other. We are connected in ways that we never thought possible about 7 years ago. While none of us are homosexual or drug addicts or even marrying senators, we do have our own dramas. We have needed to support each other more than ever in the last year than we ever really had to in the past. And yet, this has put us in this amazing place. We are all closer than we ever were before. I look forward to going work on Sundays and Mondays, because I know that Kent will be there. I know that he will be there to protect me in a difficult situation. I know that Jen is my best friend in the whole world. She is the one person I would call if I ever got engaged to Rob Lowe. Michael is my kid brother who makes my car stink like smelly boy and grass and sweat. And yet, my heart overflows with joy every time he gets into my front seat after he finishes a game. I love that we have a "growing up" relationship where we talk about music and books and current events. I love and adore the fact that my relationship with my 3 close siblings is ever changing. I love that I have an older stepsister who has blessed our family with two of the most gorgeous boys in the whole universe. I love that we pick on each other and drive each other mad. Rachel Griffiths, one of the stars of Brothers and Sisters talked about how wonderful it is to be picked on by those that you love to know that you are loved.

And so, my brothers and sister...in the face of whatever challenges we may face in the years and decades to come I have only this to say. I look forward to those challenges, because I know that I face them with ya'll--some of the most important people in the world to me.

A Thought...

" In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways."

Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance