we are four

"we are four."

we are an unbreakable whole, united for life. we are a family.

i wish i could take credit for this profound truth, but it belongs to a friend who is setting a very good example.

our family is four, as well. and as the patriarch, one rung below the matriarch, i feel a certain responsibility to build and maintain the fabric of the family. but until recently this concept had never felt so immediate. so urgent.

i always understood the importance of this duty, but i didn't know how to put it into practice. how to make it real and meaningful. my own upbringing was lacking in this regard; to this day my parents and i are distant. i don't speak to my only brother.

this circumstance is sad and completely avoidable. it's history i don't intend to repeat.

my children and i recently watched a particularly apt installment of lelo & stitch. while the medium was transitory, the message was not:

Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten.

my son picked up on this phrase, and has it memorized. i'm encouraging him to remember it.

"preston, what does family mean?" i ask him.
"family means nobody gets left behind. or forgotten."

we are an unbreakable whole, united for life. we are a family.

the thoughts are profound. instilling them in my family is imperative.