Fabulous Family

I often get very sad and emotional about how small Jenna's immediate family is, and how she will never get to know the wonderful family environment that I was fortunate enough to experience growing up. (**note, I am just referring to her IMMEDIATE family. Jenna is very fortunate to have a very large extended Greenwald/Broyhill family with whom to share holidays and family traditions... the thoughts in this post relate primarily to my feelings over what she will miss from my previous family traditions). Though I'll tell her stories of her Grandma Diane, and Great Grandma Sylvia, and Josh will share stories of growing up with his Grandparents Rose and Elmer, Jenna will never experience the Mandy family thanksgivings, passovers and other random holidays that were so precious to me as a child... running around Brigantine or Baltimore, eating those gross kosher fruit-slice candies and waking up to the smell of fried matzah, eating either brisket or baked chicken at grammy's house (and it was ALWAYS either brisket or baked chicken) before walking across the street for services, and commiserating with cousin Ashley about trying to have our meek voices heard in a family of VERY loud Mandy/Kern men (though I'm sure Jenna will learn to grow up and pick on Uncle Greg with the best of them!).

Thinking of these things never fails to upset me... But then I remind myself how lucky we are. Today, Jenna's Mom Mom and Aunt Jessica are picking her up from daycare. Not because Josh and I have to work late, but because it's been a few days, and they miss her and love her and want to spend time with her. Cousin Andrea makes a point to call on her Sunday visits home to stop by and visit, while Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Gary catch up over emails and random run-ins at Wegmans on a given Saturday night. Grandpa Richard calls me from his far away vacation and asks first not about life in general, but about Jenna, how she's doing, how much he misses her, and what little trinkets he has picked up for her along the way. Aunt Sarah, also realizing the pain and significance of the losses our family has felt, and also eager to keep alive traditions that have meant so much, drove all the way down from Philadelphia to celebrate a beloved Rabbi and stayed to have breakfast and crawl around on the floor with Jenna. When Uncle Greg and Aunt Jessi came to town a few weeks back, Jenna's Great Grandma Claire, Great Uncle Michael, Great Aunt Becca, and cousin Sara all came over for a big family breakfast, reminding Jenna (and me) that while my mom is no longer with us, we're so lucky to have her wonderful loving family surrounding us to help raise Jenna in the presence of her memories and spirit. When I think of all these things, I'm reminded that it's not the quantity of family that matters, but the quality. And while we may be fewer in numbers and greater in distance than I would prefer, I know that one day Jenna will reflect on her childhood and know how lucky she was to have been surrounded by such a wonderful family. (obviously these are just a few examples--I'm not intentionally leaving out anyone, but I could go on forever if I talked about every wonderful relative individually!)

Proving my point... In this picture is a blanket that from first glance might look like any other blanket. Instead, it's really the impetus driving this entire rambling post. Rather than pick up a blanket at a baby store, Aunt Jessi spent hours upon hours learning to hand knit this beautiful blanket, complete with attached hand knit flowers not pictured here, for her baby niece. Jenna hates sleeping in her pack and play, but every once and a while I try to force a nap so she will be used to sleeping there when she stays with Mom Mom and Pop Pop, or we attempt a family vacation. Usually I put her in the pack and play, and no matter how tired, she claws the sides trying to get out. On this occassion, though, I put her in, covered her with Aunt Jessi's blanket, and fast asleep she fell... At such a young age, she clearly knows the the difference between being wrapped up in life, and wrapped up in love.