My daughter was not looking forward to visiting our relatives. "I'm only going for your sake, Mom. I don't even know these people." That is what she told me. What can I say, living far away has not been good in that department. We tried to have family reunions every two years, but that does not always create closeness in our youth. And perhaps because of her age, she never thought of the adults in the family as people she could associate with in a personal way.

Happily, during this visit, she was surprised to find out that she had a lot in common with these 'strangers'. Take my brother, who is a huge Jimmy Hendrix fan, just like my daughter. He played us a Youtube video of his own soulful guitar tribute to Hendrix. We were both impressed, but especially my daughter.

Also, I'm sure my daughter had never taken the opportunity to get to know my sister-in-law, until now. She's is a very successful asian woman who literally pulled herself up from nothing! SIL took a keen interest in my daughter's educational goals, and seemed impressed by her accomplishments. She encouraged her to keep up the good work and made several recommendations for colleges. I know that meant a lot to my daughter, to have someone else care so much.

While driving from place to place in my sisters car, it was also apparent that they had similar taste in music. And my sister couldn't help noticing that my daughter seemed interested in the classic cars that we'd pass. It was then that she mentioned that she and her husband are frequent visitors at classic car shows. "You can see all the photos we took on our website", she said. Whoa, how 'bout that!

When we visited my former SIL, it didn't take long before the topic of conversation turned to nutrition, another interest of my daughter's. She told us of how an ultrasound revealed that her grand daughter had lung tumors while in the womb. It was recommended that they abort! My SIL pulled out all the stops in giving her daughter whatever she thought might help. The tumors disappeared! This is the little girl (now four years old) who danced for us. And of course, we know dancing is my daughter's passion.

So, it wasn't just me! We both came away with a sense of family pride and belonging. She was really glad she went! I'm so glad she is glad! We'll have to make it a regular thing.