The Family Web

Family.  A small word that is larger than eternity.  When two people become 3, then 4, and more, a family is born and eternity grows just a bit bigger.  When a family loses a member the loss is enormous.  As families are created and grow, the complex web of their connections are like the knots of a fishing net; they are so essential to each other that the loss of even one member creates a huge hole in the net rendering it severely damaged.  Tragedies, illnesses, accidents and other unforeseen situations affect families in this way every day.  The remaining members are left shocked and in grief, realizing that the gaping hole in the family web can never be repaired.  There are holes in my family net that are the result of life’s endless cycle of birth and death.  But there are also yawning, gaping holes created when insensitivity, jealousy, or even malicious behavior has won the ‘game’ from caring, understanding, and nurturing.  One of life’s great mysteries is the question of why people, who are so undeniably and intricately meshed together, choose to rip the web apart – and perhaps never to meet again and repair it.  I surmise that this is a question to be answered by a Higher Power who awaits us all in the afterlife.  I can accept that – but only because there is no other choice.  If there were a way to peer deep into the holes of my family web and repair the missing fibers, I would.  I would wait until eternity to speak and to hear the words, ‘I’m sorry, I love you, and all is forgiven’ and it appears that that is exactly how long it is going to be until the web is whole again.