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It was one of those unlikely dinners where there’s no occasion to celebrate, no special announcement to make, no important decision to make. Yet it was a momentous family affair.

When my sister visited us after three months of non-communication, my parents were elated. My father told us he will take us all to a smorgasboard dinner (a.k.a. eat all you can buffets). And so came Saturday and we were all wondering if it will actually happen… it did.

My father, mother, two brothers, sister and I were present, for the first time in six years. What a dinner it turned out to be. Food was delicious (there were some that did not pass our taste), we laughed, we bantered, we took pictures (this might not happen again, or at least not in the near future, so its important to have proof… hahaha) and we looked each others’ eyes. It was great, it was unique.

I do not have a model family that others can emulate. Each of us has his own battles to conquer, has his own reservations about life, has difficulties dealing with the complexities of being who he is. Sometimes we become strangers in our own home. We discover things that made us upset and resentful with each other. We are surrounded by old habits, old conflicts, personal issues. Truthfully, I’m not wise enough, nor mature enough to confront what besets my family. But what I do is I pray, I hope, I ask for strength, I ask for guidance, that each of us will always feel this is the family where we belong, where we can always run to for help, where we know we can be accepted for who we are and who we will become.