Families….can’t live with them…can’t live without them! That’s the somewhat unfair jibe that is often used. Family is important – but what is family? And how large should families be? I have heard the extremes on both sides – from the man who thought you were sinning if you didn’t have at least double figures in terms of children; to another who looked at one of my children and then said that she reminded him of why he was glad he didn’t have any!
On this day of my father’s funeral – I don’t think I have ever been so thankful for my wonderful, dysfunctional (in my view all families are dysfunctional to some degree – and we are no different!) family. The support that my mother has received from children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, cousins etc has been wonderful. I thought about this when I saw this beautiful reflection from Colin Brazier on GB TV – its only four minutes – but incredibly moving and insightful.
Families bear one another pain and share one another joy – just a couple of days after my dad died, our son Andrew posted this…Andrew and Caireen had a lovely baby girl, Elianna (‘God has provided’).
For those who asked…..my fathers funeral will be at 11am (UK time) today. The details are here:
The Funeral Notice is as below: