clear rants

Recently, I’ve come to realize and appreciate the importance of the extended family. I think I’ve always taken the concept of an extended family for granted. Perhaps it’s because I come from such a big family. It might also be because here in New York I’m not really that close with any of my relatives. My uncles and aunts are all “old” and therefore seem inaccessible on a more personal level. The cousins here are significantly younger than me so growing up I often felt like I was responsible for taking care of them. Hanging out with them in a non-family-related capacity had just never occurred to me.

As a result, over the years I’ve come to treasure my friendships more than my familial bonds. To me, water was thicker than blood. I think part of the reason I held such a reverse-philosophy is because I’m an only child. I had never developed that close and intimate relationship only siblings can share. But as I examined the friends around me, I realized that these friendships were as good, if not better, than most siblings’ relationships.

A couple weeks ago, I visited some family and saw many relatives whom I hadn’t seen for almost a decade. Surprisingly, I instantly felt at home. All my cousins had grown up. They were no longer the litle girls that I perpetually thought of them as. After sharing a meal with them, I realized that we had connected on such a profound level in just the span of a lunch. Was it just because we had compatible personalities or was it something more? Maybe there was something to the whole blood thicker than water adage.

The instant connection we shared coupled with seeing my mom surrounded by all her brothers and sisters further cemented this feeling. My grandmother’s death made me realize that when my parents are gone, I will basically be alone. Sure, I’ll still have my friends and probably an amazing wife, but still nothing can replace family. And that’s when I made the choice to not only get to know my cousins better, but to get to know them well. Plus, it helps that they’re pretty awesome people.

Seeing as my plans for the long weekend fell through, I’ve decided it’d be a good time to get some stuff done that I’ve been meaning to take care of for quite a while. And nothing lights a fire under one’s proverbial ass like a to-do list, so here it is (and will hopefully be updated as the weekend progresses):

• Read a book. Done. (It was a vampire book, but a book’s a book right?)
• Redesign clrrnts.
• Take more pictures. Done.
• Start planning our Miracle Fruit party. Done.
• Write a real blog post (Oh, it’s been so long).
• Finish season 1 of Mad Men. Done.
  
• Start and finish that tshirt thing I’ve been meaning to do since last year D:
• Get more sleep.
• Watch a movie (or two). Done.
• Figure shit out.

Yeah, I think I’ll aim low and try to accomplish at least two of these mofos.

Update: Turns out I went to Philly anyway, but look at all the stuff I got accomplished in addition to going away for 2 days. I’m awesome.