A family gathering

Day 819 - in our country we celebrate our Independence Day the day after Memorial Day and this is what we celebrated today. It is our family's tradition to gather at my parent's home and be together for the day. Some drove there yesterday and spent the night there and the others came in today, us among them. It is a very long drive - 350 km in each direction, but never the less it was such a wonderful day and totally worth the drive. We were 30 people in a tiny house but it was so enjoyable and I loved it. For so many years I missed all the family's traditions, I missed seeing the kids growing up and finally becoming parents themselves, I missed being with my siblings and their families, missed being surrounded by my family, missed having them as part of our lives. And now that we are back here, I am trying to built the bridges again, to catch up. I will never be able to make up for the lost time, but I can make sure that going forward things will be different. I will not add up to the mistakes of the past. I will drive almost 8 hours to be 8 hours with them. It made me happy to see my daughter so happy, finally having family instead of the emotional vacuum in which we lived over there, to see her becoming a closer friend with her cousins, playing with all the little ones and bathing in the warmth and love. It was also the first time for my partner to meet most of my family and I was a little worried it will be overwhelming for him, it is a lot to take in at one time, but it went very well and they all loved him of course. It made me happy to see all that, be part of that and to know that this is one more reason I made the right decision coming back here. 
  
I am thankful for a very long but very special day. I am thankful for love and friendship, for the feeling of belonging. I am thankful for being able to be part of this great web of life, to be part of my family once again. I am thankful for coming back home after so many years away and being accepted by everyone with no hard feelings and no boundaries. I am thankful for a most wonderful day with my partner and my daughter and all my extended family. I am thankful for everything.