...family matters...

“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?”

~Elbert Hubbard

 I'm not someone who waxed poetic thoughts about family. Far from it on the contrary. Growing up I used to be so angry at the one I have that sometimes I wished I was not related to them.

I prided myself on being nonchalant enough when it comes to my family. I can be away for long and it does not make a difference. I used to think that my family is just a group of people I come home to whenever I get the time. People I spend time with because I'm expected to.

Ironic though, that I have to be a thousand miles away,  for me to fully realized that my family matters. And still trying to make sense of it, I  live my life not solely on my own whims but first and foremost, for my family. This may sound weird or something but I can only feel successful on anything I'd do when from that, my family can take part too.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

-- Desmond Tutu

My family is far from perfect. We have had our own share of fights, misunderstanding and arguments. I guess that's just how an ordinary family should be. We just have to learn to get through past it all. 

Now, I'm living away from home for more than six months but it seemed like I'm gone for ages. The only time I hear from them is when I call back home on most weekends ( not really every weekend, though ). It's my way of getting around if I feel homesick. Not hearing their voices so often somehow help me. I'm not saying I'm not thinking about them. I have photographs saved on my computer to look at from time to time, when I get homesick. Someone asked me if I miss my family and yes, I do but I put it upon myself to try not to think about it so much. Being away from home put a whole new perspective in the way I feel about them.

And so I continue to plod on and get on with my life here and wait for the time when I can see them again...