Family first!

My mom and I were talking about what I should write for my blog yesterday and she recommended that I write about the importance of spending time with family. Being the smart-ass child that I am, I said no and decided not to write an entry at all. So today my friends, I chose to actually listen to my mother and talk about the importance of family. When we are little, we seem to love being around our parents and especially our grandparents; but it seems as we grow older we rarely see our parents and never see our grandparents anymore, except for holidays. But I in fact, break this philosophy. I live at home right now, so it's a lot easier to see everyone often, but even when I went away to college, I visited at least six times a year, if not more. My "Bickey's" house was always my first stop. The food, the warmth and the love there seems never-ending. Some people may find spending time with their grandparents a bit boring, but not I. They are actually the two funniest people I know, not to mention their generosity. Its definitely in competition with their sense of humor. Currently, I live with my mother, so I also see her and spend time with her everyday. Although we butt heads a lot, she is still my mother and its nice to have someone to talk to and someone who, no matter what, will always be there for me. So for me, it's easy to spend time with my family more than others who live away from home; but, I know a lot of people who also live at home and hate visiting/living with their parents or being close to family at all. For example, my very good friend, Dylan, lives at home with his parents and sister. He hardly ever wants to be at his house, and when he is there, he stays in his room all day. When he goes out for the night or comes over to my house, he never calls his mom to let her know where he is or when/if he is coming home. Sorry Dylan! I'm not trying to rag on you, but you are a really great example when it comes to me trying to prove my point. Also, his grandmother has a big lunch/dinner ("linner" as Dylan calls it) every Sunday at her house, which of course Dylan attends because that kid can take down some food - BUT - that's about the only time he visits Mrs. G-ma Hall. In my opinion, that's NOT COOL Dylan! I think we should all be visiting our family members as much as possible. We are not going to be here forever, and when a loved one passes, you don't want to be left saying, "I wish I would have spent more time with them." Every chance you get - VISIT, and if you can't do that, pick up the phone and give them a call. My cousin calls my "Bickey" everyday and every time I'm there when she calls, it makes me smile. I will try and make sure to do the same when I move again, but until then, I'll be at their house as much as possible. I just wanted to try and give you guys a friendly reminder that family comes first. Parties can wait. Friends come and go - but family is forever and we should all try and keep it that way.