aaahhh...it's the family room!
Today, the 21st of March, I'm putting the Family Room into the blog world!
The Family Room - this blog one is a lot like the real room in my real house with the same name. It's an "aaahhh" kind of place - easy, comfortable, sit down, relax a minute kind of place. Children dash in and out, there's noise, good noise, and windows to see out, books to see in, a big chair to sit on. Mostly pleasant things come into this room, and if they're not mostly pleasant then at least they need to be a little funny. There'll be no harsh stuff, no really sad stuff - that has to stay out - because I said so. And I've chosen today, the 21st, as the Family Room blog launch date because, well... let me show you:
First of all the Family Room is 21 years old this year. It was way back in 1994 that I dreamed up the Family Room. And it was 1994 that my crazy dream materialized - as a real-live weekly newspaper column! This is what it and I looked like back then:
Back then I was a Mom of 4, my oldest was 10 (he's now a special ed teacher) and my youngest, back then, was a newborn (he's now a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy). In 1994 I wrote about what I knew then - being a Mom to 4 (3 of whom have gone on to serve in the military! Who knew?! Certainly not me, not back then!). Anyway, other things I knew about and so wrote about: being a wife and a daughter-in-law for 13 years, being a daughter and a sister for 37 years, being a best friend for 30 years, and being a dreamer-upper from the very start. The editors of the newspapers carrying my column said, "Go ahead, write about all of it!" And I did; I wrote about family for family - and all along, the whole time, I was inspired by my family. As it grew, my horizons grew.
Twenty one years ago my real family room absolutely positively bubbled over with adventure and life and noise and mischief and really good stuff and I just couldn't help it - I just couldn't keep it to myself one more second, and so the Family Room, the column, was born. Back then and for many years the stories of the Family Room were printed in real ink on real, crinkly, foldable newsprint paper that wound up on real porches or real puddles at the ends of driveways in several towns in the United States. And today, 21 years later, on the 21st of the month, in this, the 21st century - my newspaper column is celebrating its 21st birthday and at the same time transforming itself into a 21st century blog. So there it is - Happy Blogday Birthday Family Room!
I've timed the blog launch of my 21 year old Family Room for today (3 - 21) for another reason. Today is World Down Syndrome Day and my two youngest (child #5 and child #6 born during the Family Room-in-the-newspaper years) have Down syndrome. All over the world and in my very own family room a celebration is underway today of those who have that 3rd copy of the 21st chromosome in each cell of their bodies. I've actually been celebrating Down syndrome every day for the past 19 years - Steve was born in '96 and celebrating him and his journey has been so humbling and gratifying and wonderful and inspiring and easy and difficult and .... well, simply put, a joy like no other. And in 1998 my sixth child came along, Tommy. Tommy is now 17 years old, a junior in high school, an enthusiastic basketball player, a league bowler, a track and field medal winner, a techno-gadget whiz kid. These two boys are the youngest of my six children and like the four older ones, they have been inspirers and adventurers and mischief makers and life affirmers - and, like their older siblings, they were and will be again featured characters in many a Family Room story. Here they are gathered together in a rare photo - my Family Room's featured characters: its inspirers, adventurers, mischief makers, its life affirmers - all in one spot!
In the 21 years since the Family Room was born many things have changed. For instance, the very location of the real family room (we've moved three times: from Michigan to Illinois to Ohio back to Illinois) And then with the 3 of my 6 in the military, the question of how many months pass before we can gather again, and how many time zones and oceans separate us this time, and what time is good to Skype. In my real family room I've seen the number of diplomas increase and the addition of a wedding album on the table, and the "I Love Nana" picture frame holding a picture of my granddaughter and me.
So much life has gone on and will go on, so many adventures, so much inspiration bubbling over, still, even after 21 years.
Til next time, take care and God bless. Karen
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