There’s a movie with Patrick Swayse called “Next of Kin” in which Pat’s brother gets killed, and the whole family crawls out of the woodwork to avenge his death. The Ogwife loves the flick because she’d like to rub up against Pat Swayse, and frankly, I don’t blame her.Me, I like the premise: Hilbillies against mobsters. It’s a good movie, because folks like myself can see the truth of it. <\/p>\n
The underlying theme is the importance of family. How, no matter how pissed off you get at Aunt Edna, no matter how much Uncle Ralph irritates you, they’re family. They are there for you, you are there for them. It’s easy to bemoan the way things are, and whine that things were better back then, but this is a core truth: Family and the ties that bind the family together are the very fabric of humanity. No matter how foreign a culture is, they have the same family troubles and joys. The way to weaken a culture is to separate it’s families; look at Cuban schools, for instance: Children are commonly separated from their parents at age 11 to attend government schools, and taught that the state is their family. <\/p>\n
Real family members are there for one another on a day-to-day basis, because that’s when people need help, living their daily lives. Making sure your mom has decent tires on her car. Making sure cousin Mike’s gas bill gets paid. Making sure aunt Edna doesn’t have to go to the doctor alone. These small things are the things that make it all worthwile, improving the daily quality of people’s lives around you. Heroics are rare and usually, thankfully, unnecesary.
\nNow, don’t get me wrong: Want to piss me off? diss a family member. Want to see my knuckles up close? mouth off to my mom. Want to stare unblinking into the fury and wrath of hell, and watch it peel the flesh back off your bones? touch my child. And this goes for all my family. This also goes for my friends. Your friends are the family members you choose, and I have some damned good ones. My personal friends, as well as online ones. <\/p>\n
Kim du Toit, for instance, is bellying up and forking over<\/a>. He’s got a long history <\/a>of this. He’s chosen to adopt a bunch of kids and provide for them because he knows it’s right. He accepts anonymous donations. He kicks in himself. He seethes with rage when a man goes down, you can read it in his blog.<\/p>\n Porretto<\/a>, also, is one of those that gives until it hurts, literally. He don’t talk about it, but if you take the time to read his blog, you catch the undercurrents- the ways he has changed the lives of others around him and the ways he continues to try to help, even the unworthy, even at the cost of his own health and sanity. Nuff said.<\/p>\n Velociman<\/a>, also, is a personable and generous man to a fault. He never talks about it in his blog, but I can read between the lines. His sense of family may be the strongest I’ve ever seen. You can’t hide from me, vman. <\/p>\n I could go on. And on. Read the blogroll, it’s chock full of people who understand the meaning and importance of family, both of having good family and having shitty family- look at The Region Broad<\/a>. Her heart wrenching renditions of the last moments of her adoptive father’s <\/a>life make me hurt for her, and the BS she puts up with for her biological family (who sought her out) just make me want to hold her like she was my kid. <\/p>\n