I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters. We are scattered all over the country. My two oldest sisters live in Hawaii where my mom also resides. Another sister lives in Rhode Island and I have a brother in Washington State and another brother who lives a couple of blocks from me in Huntington Beach. Even though we live apart from each other we have always kept in contact through our group chat that we have named 6 kids and a mom. My 91-year-old mom chimes in occasionally but most of the activity comes from the siblings. I have always enjoyed the conversations that pop up.
As we all started hunkering down in our homes the conversations have increased. My brother Phillip one day sent us a quote that meant something to him. He gave us the initials and we had to guess who had spoken those words. His original plan was to share 7 quotes one a day. But we were all enjoying the connection with each other and he continued the next day and the next each day sharing a new quote. The guessing continued and conversations were sparked about the relevance or what the quote meant to us. There has been some fun with it as well as he throws in a quote here and there from our family history. These quotes have given us much laughter. Some of his quotes have stumped us and my brother in law resorted to Google. He was dubbed a “cheater” and was disqualified from guessing the next day.
The meaning of the quotes has been valuable but what the real benefit has been for me through all of this has been the connection I have felt with my family who are spread out across the states and the hope that has come from these conversations. Our morning text is something that we all now look forward too each morning.
I’ll end with this morning’s quote as it was just what I needed to hear today.
Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise. V.H.
No googling.
Dear God, Thank you for the gift of siblings and friends and the history that we share with them that keeps us grounded, help us to learn and grow in new ways. We give thanks for all the people who use their voices throughout history who inspire us to be better give us hope, courage and remind us that we are all your children and loved by you. Amen
Marty