Tuesday, 12/14

I think I caught a glimpse of my future this past weekend.

I don't think I realized it at the time, but the whole concept is something that popped into my head while running this morning. Because two of her daughters were home for a few days, my sister had her Christmas two weeks early. She was thoughtful enough to invite me and my camera, and I was able to spend a couple of hours taking pictures as wrapping paper went flying, and also chatted with various nieces and other members of her blended family.

Since we didn't get to do that last year, it was nice to do it this year, especially as they were passing presents around, laughing it up, and enjoying each other's company. It was a very, very cool thing to watch

When I was a (small) kid and we had extended family gatherings, there always seemed to be someone there I didn't know. It was usually an older person, and they would always be (at least to the very young me) lurking in the background and not really taking part in the festivities. I now know that person was an uncle or an aunt who the adults in the room wanted to be included in the family gathering. Back then, though, that individual just seemed to be the Strange Old Person at the party.

As I mentioned, my sister has a blended family, and one of the people at the party Sunday was a delightful young lady (from the other side of the blended family) who just looked at me a few times the way that I used to look at the uncle or the aunt at our celebrations all those decades ago.

That's when I realized I'm in the process of becoming the Strange Old Person at family gatherings.

Don't get me wrong; I had a great time at the party, and was never lurking in the background. But my sister's blended family now encompasses three generations, plus various boyfriends and husbands, all with their own interests and their own unique bonds and their own private jokes. As that family grows and expands, how much longer will it be until there's a whole group of younger people wondering who the dork is wandering around and taking pictures?

I'm thinking that's the glide path upon which I'm flying at the moment.

The strange this is I'm actually kinda okay with that. My nieces (and nephews) are amazing people, and one of the joys I've been able to experience is seeing them grow up and become those amazing people. And the great thing is that they're not done yet. As they keep growing and start to bring other individuals into the ever-increasing family circle, I'm curious to see how it all turns out, especially when a situation like Christmas or a birthday actually brings everyone together in person, like over this past weekend.

I just hope they all don't mind the Strange Old Person who crashes their celebrations every so often.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com), proto-Strange Old Person