Family Affairs

Last week my dad stopped by my office to say hello and take me to lunch.  I had a number of errands that I had planned to spend my lunch hour running, but I also wanted to spend time with my dad so I asked if he could come with me instead of getting lunch.  He said yes and we set out.  About 15 minutes later we ran into some family members that I don't often get to see.  The encounter was....odd.

While my dad sees these people sporadically; I haven't seen my cousin or his wife in about three years and during that time either I've forgotten how they act or they've drastically changed.  My cousin bragged endlessly about his work and financial success, even though no one asked and it was totally off topic, and constantly brought the subject back to himself no matter how many times we strayed.  He seemed like someone in a blissfully self-absorbed daze.  

I could have dismissed this as quirky, but then his wife began to speak.  She sounded like a ditsy teenager, not just the content of her conversation but the cadence of her voice and the pitch have changed and her eyes were floating, head softly swiveling like someone who's taken too high a dose of their anti-depressants.  The whole encounter was baffling, uncomfortable, and just surreal. 

Dad and I walked back to my car and sat in silence a few moments while I started driving.  I was lost in thought, or perhaps in stunned silence, about the whole encounter and wondering if I was remembering these people incorrectly when Dad put a hand on my knee, patted it three times, sighed and said, "Weeell, they're not great, but they'll always be family."  I looked at him, coming out of my haze. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders and said, "Whaddya gonna do?"  Then we both laughed.  Thank God, he saw it too!

In an age of cutting ties at the least and most absurd provocation with the people who know us the best and love us the most in favor of "the family we chose" which is mainly comprised of like-minded internet strangers who don't even come close to being anything like family and are instead just people who co-dependently encourage us from a distance to continue in our destructive behaviors and delusions, it was refreshing to hear someone say that no matter how odd or off-putting or, dare I say offensive someone is, they are still and always will be family. 

Don't be in such a mad rush to cut them out of your lives for arbitrary things or you will find yourself all alone with your ridiculous politics and high opinion of yourself and neither of those things are much comfort when you need anything from a ride to the airport to a shoulder to cry on. There are so many stupid things that people like to fight about these days.  What if we spent that much time and energy fighting for our families instead of against them?  Fight for your family because family is one of the only things in this life worth fighting for.

In honor of today's post, this dress comes from a brand called Family Affairs which is a small Swiss clothing company with beautiful, unique designs and pieces illustrated by owner Nina Egli.

If this Crimson & Clover dress isn't just the right mix of my two favorite style cores, Princess and Cottage core, then I don't know what is.  I love everything about this dress, especially the buttons at the back of the skirt and suggestive-of-a-corset lacing.  It's all so gorgeous!

Shopping Info:  Crimson & Clover Dress-$135 from Family Affairs, Rekayla Mary Janes-$25