The entire family is just Wright

​Happy Monday! Have a nice weekend? Good. Glad to hear it. Let me tell you about mine.

First off, know this. There's pressure, there's extreme pressure, there's brain surgery pressure, then there's the pressure of writing about my siblings.

I mean...one typo and I'm disowned.

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It's been two years since I last saw my brother and four sisters, who all live in the general Metro Detroit area. Since I'm the only one of six separated from the herd, I really miss the connections.

I usually make at least one trek North in November for Thanksgiving. I somehow missed last year and was starting to feel isolated from the family. That can happen easily. We stay in contact, but I need face time to make sure we're all doing OK.

Little family info: I'm No. 4 of six kids. All my siblings but one have children, and the one who doesn't is a middle school classroom aide who is very popular with the kids.

Some of those nieces and nephews have children. It's quite a gathering when we're all around.

My visits always feel a little awkward since Dad passed and we sold the family home. I’m sure a lot of people can identify with that. My sister Eileen and her husband Ruben graciously host me in their lovely home. Eileen makes sure I'm set with enough Better Made BBQ chips for the visit and sneak onto the airplane home. 


We rarely get the whole gang together and this weekend was no exception. My brother Tom, the oldest in the family, couldn't make it because he was celebrating the 50th birthday of his oldest. It dawned on us that our first niece is 50. Yikes. What does that make us? Um...older.

That makes these trips vital. I don't want to wake up one day and realize a sibling was in need and I didn't know it because I'm 1,000 miles away. 

I met Tom for lunch on Friday. He looked and sounded very well. He's been talking about moving to Florida for years. I hope he makes it.

On Saturday at Eileen's, we were missing a few nieces and a nephew, otherwise everyone accounted for. What a glorious afternoon with family and friends.

I enjoyed telling my sisters about the blog. I brought along a few Buddy Bandanas and my sister Rosemary bought one for her dog, Biskit. Also a rescue, Biskit and Buddy shared a bond. Sunday morning, Rosemary sent me a photo of Biskit sporting his new Buddy Bandana. 

(By the way, you'll notice today’s selfie doesn't show a bunch of family at the Thanksgiving dinner table as one would expect. Here's why. My sisters, who occasionally read the blog and know what I do for a living, said every time I snapped a photo of them, "You're not going to put that on the Internet are you?" With that look from the sisters suggesting only a blogger fool would do something so dumb.)

Every visit home includes the cemetery to see Mom and Dad. I went out there Friday with my sister Peggy, but the wind was so bitter we soon left. Mom's been gone quite a few years. Dad, not so long. But, man, even at 66 I miss them. Those visits are both difficult and healing.

I booked a flight that left late enough Sunday for me to attend church. It's a community church near the old neighborhood; one I have visited on occasion before.


Sunday morning was extra special as they were having baptisms. I sat in the second row, off to the side, and each of the 10 people being baptized had an audio-recorded testimony. All were young, probably late teens to early 20s. It was quite moving.

The last girl, though. Wow. She was born into a Christian family. At age 5, she lost both parents to domestic violence. She grew up believing God would protect her, but she didn't know how. Now she is seeing light break through her darkness, and she’s experiencing a bright future. 

The preacher asked friends and others to come up and lay hands on the 10 while he prayed. I didn't know a soul in the place, but I popped up and joined the prayer. After the service, I went out to my rental car and wrote today's blog on my phone in the church parking lot.

After that, I paid one other visit, alone, to the cemetery. Thanking the Lord for my parents.


It was a great visit. My siblings are healthy, relatively happy, and look terrific. I’ve been in Florida for 38 years, well over half my life, and these weekends keep me grounded. 

I'm already thinking ahead to next Thanksgiving with the Wright kids. What a great family. I'm blessed they're mine. 

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