Is there anything really more important than family?
This past weekend we got to spend time with my oldest son, who lives in northwest Louisiana. We ate good food, played games, talked, laughed and just enjoyed getting to be together.
The few weekends prior, we had been able to spend time with our other son and his wife, down visiting us from the Mississippi Delta, the two youngest daughters in central Louisiana, and – of course – our oldest daughter, who lives with us.
Every minute is time to treasure, as I know other parents agree. The time goes by way too fast for every visit, no matter who has traveled and for what reason, and I’m always looking forward to the next visit as soon as that one is over.
My siblings and I were raised to believe that family was very important. Love your family, take up for them, intercede for them, help them, encourage them, do all you can to be there for them.
One of my daughters summed it up very succinctly by saying we’re “loyal.”
As I exited an event a few weeks ago with my wife, one daughter and my daughter-in-law, a friend who shares the Campbell surname greeted me and said, jokingly, “Look at those Campbells! Now there goes a clannish bunch.”
I agreed that we were, indeed. That launched us into a short conversation about how, growing up, we could fight with our siblings but no one outside the family was allowed to. We talked about our parents instilling in us the importance of family and how we would each do anything we could for family.
“Ne obliviscaris,” he said – the Campbell Clan motto. It means “Never forget.”
It’s funny, really. No one seems to agree on what the family descended from a Welshman in Scotland was supposed to not forget. There are a few suggestions that are probable, but no solid agreement.
But my friend Mike and I know for us it means not to forget our family members, not to forget our commitment to the welfare of one another, not to forget our blood connection matters. As well as the connection we choose when we treat others as family.
Mi familia es mas que solo de nombre.
There are those in my “family” who are not blood related, not even related by marriage. There are those who don’t look like me and don’t talk like me, but with whom I share all the things that are truly important – our hearts are guided by the same Spirit, our goals in life and commitment to our friends and family are strong enough that they join us, as well.
Those with whom I share an eternal family with really are joined by blood – that of our Savior.
I am truly grateful for family and I hope you are, as well.
“Teaghlach gu brath” is something else I said to my friend Mike that evening. It’s Gaelic and literally translates as “family until judgment (day).” More commonly, it’s “Family forever.”
It’s a loyalty I take very seriously.
So, to each of you in my family, I am grateful for you. I love you.
Teaghlach gu brath.
Brett Campbell can be reached at ChunkyBrett@mail.com or 601-934-0901.
