Some families really get along and some don't or don't very much, Some people, and couples, have a few-to-lots of friends, while others don't. I was never that close to my family for different reasons and, since my MIL's death, my wife's family just isn't that close to us anymore. Some things just don't work out the way people would like them to.
No, they don't and nobody's life is perfect...I'm lucky to have a great family but unlucky that my wonderful husband died when I was only 53.
It's hard when the ones we love and care about don't seem to return those feelings...or even want to try to keep a relationship growing instead of letting it fall by the wayside.. Today Family does not seem to have the same meaning as it did when I was growing up in my own family or even years before that. Life has changed so much and not for the better in my opinion. Even though there is still closeness with my siblings and children and grandchildren...I see and feel the "pulling away" as everyone struggles to find enough time to keep "nurturing" relationships that now are divided by distance, work, raising children and helping with grandchildren, living their own lives and interests. It gets even harder when you find as you've grown you have little in common anymore or are in such difference "seasons of life" that even when you are together it seems you don't know what to say to each other anymore or how to interact as Family any longer. Even when distance isn't "separating" family members....so many other things can be. It used to be that Family loved each other even when they didn't always agree with each other...but now many times if family doesn't agree with each other...they just "disown" each other. I have said before that we live in a "throw away" World now...and this hold true even with Family members. We "throw them away" if they don't fit perfectly into our lives, etc....or they "throw" us away if we don't fit into theirs. Life has certainly changed...I only wish it were for the better.
I don't know, but then again, see pictures and read about some of my classmates get-togethers and/or reunions. The pictures show a very loving environment going on. I also see small family gatherings at local restaurants of those that live in this area. Can it really be as bad as in your reply above mine @Babs Hunt?
Yes, @Cody Founaugh it can be really be that bad for many people in my opinion. When you see people at Family or Class Reunions, etc. it's usually because they want to be there to see those they have missed, to catch up on each other's lives, etc. So I would think their pictures and thoughts shared would be happy ones. But you have to remember that many times these Reunions are once a year or even once every few years and not representative of normal daily life for most of these people. There are still Families that love and care about each other Cody in spite of the fact that they cannot see each other often. I have a best friend since we were 17 years old who I may see every few years...sometimes longer but we keep in touch with Facebook and emails, etc. and when we do see each other it is like we were never apart. She will always be Family to me and I to her. I was just giving an opinion in general of what I see happening more and more...even with some of my own Family members. I do hate seeing this happen and wish I could change it somehow but I can only change myself and no one else.
@Cody Fousnaugh My wife & I ride in the same boat. No kids/grandkids, but no regrets there (I would hate to be advertising our disdain for them by publicly stating "Spending our Grandkid's inheritance") as so many RVs here pronounce. As though the old folks are so disgusted with the younger generation they produced. Me, I have few relatives. Three nieces, my sister's daughters, aged 59, 58, and 40, who never contact me. Two nephews you already know about. Everybody else is DEAD. Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, .......I feel as though I am the last surviving family member. Frightening position, though inevitable, I recognize. I should biologically be the next to go. My nephew Mike, more pragmatic, he's 65, cites illness and malady as being most important. He believes the unknowns prevalent now, at this stage of life, are tantamount to presenting great unknowns: it could be him next, instead of me. Thank you, JESUS! I have received a brief "reprieve!". Frank