In my own write 03/21/00

A dear friend of mine wrote "Wether the wording is yours....or Elsa's....  it makes no  difference......IT'S YOUR MEMORIES AND/OR THOUGHTS that come thru."

It is interesting.  Of course, it is Elsa who puts my words into print ("Hi!" elm), but she takes great care to use my words and we always carefully review what I want to share before she starts tapping away at the keyboard and she hauls me into the computer studio to hear what she has written before sending it off. 

We certainly do have an unusual mother-daughter relationship.  It is one reason that Peter Buss' sermon the other day interested me.  He called a mother and daughter up before the congregation (I did not identify them from the audio tape, but I know from Elsa that it was Carol and Justine Brannon). 

He had lovely things to say about the "Rachel" ideals of being parent and child and I waited for him to fully address the "Leah" reality that it is the rare-rare-rare parent/child relationship that does not have tough going.  I waited to hear him talk about how relationships can seem to even be severed or damaged beyond repair, but the seed of love is always there, wanting to bloom.  But he did not.  I was disappointed and a little concerned. 

Not that long ago, I would have heard him and said to myself, "See, this is what relationships are supposed to be.  If my own family relationships are not that way, it must be my fault.  I am not nurturing the loving, supportive family God intended me to."  I would have felt downcast by the very beautiful picture he painted. 

Families can be wonderful sources of support and love, but let us be

honest in saying that families that are always upbeat and cohesive are few and far between.  And that is not necessarily a bad thing. 

Did you know that at one time, if a woman delivered a baby by Ceasarean section, her doctor had her deliver the rest of her children the same way?  The reason was that the stress of delivery could rupture the scar.  But the truth is that a scar - where skin has been torn apart and rehealed - is stronger than the original tissue.  So too, I believe, it is with families.  They can go through difficult times, the relationships can even seem torn apart, but when the people care enough to come back together, to listen and respond, to not do the same damaging actions or allow them to be done, then the family is

stronger than ever.

Much love to my online family & relations - Aunt Kay