it's in his genes

At this time of year, I think about my paternal grandparents - they were really the rock that held our side of the family together, particularly at the holidays. It makes sense that now that so many of us have started families of our own, we tend to spend Christmas closer to home, wherever that may be, but when my Grammie and Grampa were alive, you could count on the whole brood to get together in a raucus group centered around food, laughter, love, and spirit.
There are many different personalities in my family, and I won't pretend that we always get along, but I love them all and wish we could all gather like that again. I want my son to know his family, to know where he comes from. My grandparents are gone, so it is my responsibility to make sure the qualities they exemplified live on in my son - honor, respect, love, compassion, faith, trust. I can only hope that someday, I will look into Finn's eyes and see the very best of all of us.