Being back in Sweden we have the fortune to visit and spend time with my wife’s family.  I genuinely enjoy spending time with the people who have helped shape who my wife is – and the way they operate means that any random weekend can become a holiday (though this weekend is a holiday anyway).

This family is held together by the grandfather and his children (the grandmother and great aunts and uncles of the little guy) and their children (my wife’s sisters and cousins).  It’s wonderful to see the closeness, support, and safety that this close-knit family brings to one another – and it’s not just the immediate brothers and sisters who are close, it extends to the cousins and on and on.  It is a wonderful family to have here in Sweden, especially as my family is in the USA.

It makes me think a lot about the family unit that my wife and I are in the early stages of creating.  One day I will be the grandfather whose family is gathering, and who are close and make any weekend a holiday.  The little guy and his brothers and sisters and their children will get together and have a closeness that comes from that right family bond that we will create starting now, in our everyday lives together.  It comes from the decisions we make and the way we teach our children about the role of family in their lives.  It’s a bit overwhelming, I think, but at the same time it is exciting – we are just at the beginnings of creating what could be really amazing with the right priorities, a family where everyone is safe, and knows they can let down their guard from the world.  I guess as they say, all we need is love.