Growing up i have wonderful memories of our family sharing everything from family vacations, celebrations, births, weddings and holidays.
I also remember my family was always
there in times of tragedy, heartbreaks, sicknesses, and sadly the death of my parents.
My mother held our family together after my dad lost both his legs and eventually his life from complications from
Diabetes.
Even though my parents were so close and married 42 years, my mom continued
to "hold" our broken family together.
I as well as my two sisters and brother were married and had our own children.
In other words we now were four separate
families. The truth is we all went our separate ways and sadly we hardly saw
one another.
We all continued to stay close to my mother she sadly was the only thing we
all had in common as the years went by.
My mom passed away suddenly in 2006 in her sleep and that is also the day me and my siblings literally stopped being a family.
The day of her funeral I had a terrible fight with my youngest sister who made a stupid dig directed to me about how she was mom's favorite and she should have my mom's huge diamond heart ring.
We didn't even attend her funeral and
that's all my sister had on her mind?
In my mother's eyes we were all loved
and we all were her "favorite" in one way or another. She loved all her children.
I regret it now but I screamed at her for being so materialistic and she cried hysterically, as she climbed into the back of one of two limo's that arrived.
Me and my older sister who ironically,
became a widow just two weeks prior to my mother's death , took the other car.
Over the next six years i have seen my siblings once a year.
We are all to blame, myself included.
We now basically use Facebook to communicate and to say happy birthday.
Sometimes we even comment or "like"
a photo to be polite.
My older sister lives less than four miles from me and she called me yesterday and i declined the call. I haven't
heard from her since I made Passover dinner, last April and knew she was calling to see if I was making my annual
Roshashana dinner.
No, this year I am breaking the pattern and for the first time since my mother passed away i am bringing in the Jewish
New Year with my husband, my mother-in-law, and my three precious children.
I am also not breaking the fast after
Yom Kippur, at my brother's country club.
I haven't seen him and my younger sister, who got the heart ring, since I broke the fast last year.
Maybe then my siblings will finally understand the lesson my mother was
desperately trying to teach us.
Family is not only important on the High
Holidays . Maybe my absence will make my brother and sisters realize that life is so short we should cherish the time we spend together like we did so many years ago.
I love my family so much and I am the only one who knows.
So sorry mom,
My family
