November 2008

It’s fun to be around people who are just like you. That’s why I like being with my family. Yesterday we didn’t do much. We just ate and talked and watched the kids play. But there is just something about being with people who are just the same as you. It’s comfortable.

Sometimes when I’m talking to Asa and doing my best baby-talking and sing-songing, I suddenly sound like my aunt! My voice will sound more like hers than like mine! It’s not something I can just imitate at the drop of a hat, it just pops out of me in her exact same lilt. It’s so weird. But it’s special to me, too. I love knowing that even when we’re on opposite coasts, there’s some family “thing” that connects us!

My grandmother used to always say, “sleepy-my-you” when one of us were tired. And it’s not something I always said growing up, obviously–it’s just one of those baby things you say. But sometimes I’ll be holding Asa when he’s tired and I’ll say, “He’s a sleepy-my-you.” in the exact same cadence and inflection as my grandmother! I haven’t heard Grandmama say that in over ten years probably, how is it that it’s one of the first things that pops out of my mouth when I’m holding my sleepy son?

I think it’s a God-thing that even the little things that are never even thought of or talked about are passed on from family member to family member. I’d love to know how far back “sleepy-my-you” started…was it 10 generations ago? All these little “things” intertwine into who we are as a family. I love all those little pieces of family-thread that run in and out of us, connecting and bonding us together.

What’s your family “thing”?

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