Family First

I had a fairly relaxing weekend primarily hanging out with family. My cousin and his family were in town from Indonesia for the weekend. I hadn’t seen them in 10+ years since I last visited Indonesia. We had a nice dinner and drinks at my parent’s house on Friday catching up on life and family matters. Then we spent Saturday in Napa.

Being in America when the vast majority of my extended family is back in Indonesia has always made me a bit of an outcast in the family matters. On top of that, my Dad is 1 of 11 and one of the youngest in the group. At 34, I’m one of the youngest cousins in the family.

My cousin has always put family first as one of the oldest in the group of cousins. He’s always the one organizing things for the family and making sure that everyone gets taken care of including myself. I was excited to spend time with him and his family.

When I was young, I would visit Indonesia every summer and have the opportunity to see and hang out with family. As I got older, those summers became every two, then three years. Now I haven’t been back for 10+ years so I feel a bit disconnected.

As Sophia and I start our own family, I want to make sure my kids realize the importance of putting family first and making sure we don’t lose our culture of being Indonesian. I know it’s unlikely that we’ll get to go to summers in Indonesia every summer, but I need to make it a point to get out there at least on a regular basis.