A Rare Family Picture

My parents divorced when I was 8 years old, and I never knew how to deal with it. Even at 40 years old, I struggle with it. I always handled it by dealing with my family as units (the mother and stepfather unit, the father and stepmother unit, the sibling unit). Keep them separate! That was my motto.

Six years ago, God regenerated my heart (commonly called "born-again" in Christian circles and in the Bible). He gave me new desires and with that came a desire to love my family as a family. He continues to give me opportunities to exercise this desire.

At my nephew's graduation party a few weeks ago, my youngest brother jokingly (and somewhat vindictively but that's another story for another time) suggested that we (me and my two brothers) have our picture taken with my parents. It was a weird and foreign concept to me, and I was very uncomfortable with it. I quickly tried to figure out a way to get out of it. I looked at my Dad and said, "Seriously? All of us?". And my Dad said, "Yes. Bring your mom in here. Ya know, this used to be a team here." Oddly enough, those words comforted me and put me at ease.

So, you will find below the first family picture (me, my brothers, and my parents) since I was 8 years old. I will truly cherish it!