New Year Reminders . . .

When my husband was a teenager, he worked weekends as a dishwasher and cook's helper at a local lodge. There was a big event one weekend and the owners hired an extra helper and asked my husband if he knew of anyone who wanted to earn some money. He volunteered his younger brother. During the course of the evening, my husband found himself short tempered and demanding of his younger brother. Nothing he did was right, he was too slow, etc. Meanwhile, the other kid hired for the evening was doing about the same job but my husband treated him with a lot more kindness and respect. Suddenly, he realized that he was only picking on his brother because he could but was being polite to a complete stranger. It brought him up short and he started thinking about how we often treat our own family less worthily than strangers. I suppose family can't leave and we are stuck with each other . . . but that shouldn't be the mind set. Now that he is a grown up with children, he always admonishes our teens and older to treat their siblings as strangers if they can't find it in their heart to treat them like family. The first time he made this announcement, it stopped them short until he explained it to them. No, they still aren't perfect children but they have come to realize who should be first in their hearts.

I remember a situation from my own childhood. I must have been around five or six and my mother, as always, was busy baking for some special event at our parish. She was known for her baking and always called upon or volunteered herself to help out. I had witnessed these frenzied baking sessions before and knew to keep clear of the clouds of flour and motherly muttering as she tried for perfection. The delightful smells and pretty cookies finally got to me and I quietly asked, "Mom! If you have a cookie that doesn't look good or is burned, can I have it?" There was a sudden lull in the culinary storm. My mother sighed and a tear crept down her cheek and she handed me a little plate with several of her most perfect creations. She, too, had gotten lost in the process and, perhaps, the 'fame' of her baking. I guess I had made her realize that family should always come first.

These episodes in our lives seem to pop into mind around New Year's and reminds me to share the best that I am with the people who mean the most to me in this life. My husband's story reminds me to respect the ones who love me the most. No, I'm far from perfect but I'm remembering more often to try!