The other weekend we went to a gathering for a family event of my man. We come from quite different families. Mine is small and reserved. I have one brother who lives on the other side of the country. Apart from my parents, I have no other family in Melbourne at all. I’m not close to my brother, so we have very little to do with each other. I’m not particularly close to my parents either. My definition of not being close is not sharing much of what is important in our lives together.
The man’s family is much larger and less reserved. I can’t really comment on their closeness, according to my definition. There is all the activity and mayhem that goes with a larger family.
I feel that I have been welcomed into the family. It’s always good to feel welcomed. I often, although not always, find myself attracted to that which is different from my own experience. This is particularly so when it comes to family. So the combination of being attracted to and welcomed by the family, gives me a very warm feeling. My attraction to larger families is that I think they will be closer than mine.
I’ve been partnered to someone before with a large and different family to my own, so I know that I am idealistic about this. There are pros and cons of both small and large families and size does not define closeness. I still find however, that my initial response to a larger family is that they will be closer than mine. When I stop to think about it, I know this does not make sense. But at the moment I’m enjoying being connected to something different.
The man also has great friends who have welcomed me as well.
It’s all a great start to the New Year!
2 comments:
That's great Campbell. I just spent the last day or so with my partner's family in the country. They are very different from mine but I feel very comfortable with them. Nate feels the same when he goes up to visit my parents in Canberra.
My experience at Christmas was somewhat similar.
I am an only child but on Christmas night spent the evening in Brisbane with a family of thirty plus.
The contrast between this large and chaotic group and my own (admittedly loving) family of three was huge.
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