By Ann Keeler Evans
In the long run, you're going to walk away from your wedding (well, many of you will!) marveling at how wonderful it was to see your whole family gathered around and wondering why you never get together just to hang out.
Your family's are going to be so happy to have caught up with one another's lives and stories and maybe to have had one last visit with Great Aunt Jane. Little cousins are going to meet and find out that they really do have families.
Our lives are so different from 2 generations ago, when people mostly grew up and married in the same towns in which they'd been born. You saw extended family at church and picnics and holidays. Now we almost always have to travel to see family. We have to divide our time between my family and yours.
We're clannish beings, we human beings, we like being connected. We like looking like our forebears and discovering that we have similar interests as people we're related to.
Now, because you have this great list with everyone's name on it, you can work at getting connected. You can (easily) become the family organizer. Take the skills you used setting up your wedding home page to set up an on-line home for your families. Plan a reunion. Find ways to stay in touch and keep others in touch in both virtual and real ways. You'll be surprised who wants to be "in" the family.
1. Set up a Facebook page for your family (families?): It may be that your parents enjoyed getting to know one another. Connect people. Ask for recipes, genealogies, knitting patterns or instructions in changing the oil in your car or a light bulb. Make it a club people want to join. It doesn't take much to stir the pot. And most people from grandma on down are on Facebook.
2. Plan a Family Work Day: Choose a favorite charity and go spend a day working together. Picking up trash along a river or helping a disabled person winterize their dwelling is something everyone's willing to do, regardless of political affiliations! Plan a picnic or a barbecue at the end of the day.
3. Plan a Family Retreat: Make it big. Find a church camp where you can all stay off season, invite families from both sides and invite your sibs to invite their families from both sides. Take walks, play games, cook together and have an all around great time. The kids will all get to know one another, the elders can explain the ins and outs of social medicine to one another and you've had a cheap and fun weekend!
There are plenty of other ways to keep your families connected and growing. Each one of them keeps you working together on your marriage and your family. It helps your families view you as a couple they want to support. And that's the way it should be! You've got the skills. Now put them to use, building a community that will support your marriage's health and well-being!
For other information visit--> http://arsandy.wordpress.com
In the long run, you're going to walk away from your wedding (well, many of you will!) marveling at how wonderful it was to see your whole family gathered around and wondering why you never get together just to hang out.
Your family's are going to be so happy to have caught up with one another's lives and stories and maybe to have had one last visit with Great Aunt Jane. Little cousins are going to meet and find out that they really do have families.
Our lives are so different from 2 generations ago, when people mostly grew up and married in the same towns in which they'd been born. You saw extended family at church and picnics and holidays. Now we almost always have to travel to see family. We have to divide our time between my family and yours.
We're clannish beings, we human beings, we like being connected. We like looking like our forebears and discovering that we have similar interests as people we're related to.
Now, because you have this great list with everyone's name on it, you can work at getting connected. You can (easily) become the family organizer. Take the skills you used setting up your wedding home page to set up an on-line home for your families. Plan a reunion. Find ways to stay in touch and keep others in touch in both virtual and real ways. You'll be surprised who wants to be "in" the family.
1. Set up a Facebook page for your family (families?): It may be that your parents enjoyed getting to know one another. Connect people. Ask for recipes, genealogies, knitting patterns or instructions in changing the oil in your car or a light bulb. Make it a club people want to join. It doesn't take much to stir the pot. And most people from grandma on down are on Facebook.
2. Plan a Family Work Day: Choose a favorite charity and go spend a day working together. Picking up trash along a river or helping a disabled person winterize their dwelling is something everyone's willing to do, regardless of political affiliations! Plan a picnic or a barbecue at the end of the day.
3. Plan a Family Retreat: Make it big. Find a church camp where you can all stay off season, invite families from both sides and invite your sibs to invite their families from both sides. Take walks, play games, cook together and have an all around great time. The kids will all get to know one another, the elders can explain the ins and outs of social medicine to one another and you've had a cheap and fun weekend!
There are plenty of other ways to keep your families connected and growing. Each one of them keeps you working together on your marriage and your family. It helps your families view you as a couple they want to support. And that's the way it should be! You've got the skills. Now put them to use, building a community that will support your marriage's health and well-being!
For other information visit--> http://arsandy.wordpress.com
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