Lonesome No More!

We are up in Bellingham this week with Tree’s family….MY family!  I’m so happy that I’m marrying into a tribe that is so warm, welcoming, and teeming with strong women. I definitely believe that as people, our spirits grow exponentially faster in a relationship, and part of that is because our network of communication, exposure to wisdom, and awareness of others grows with the addition of our spouse’s family.  

One of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, wrote, “Human beings need all the relatives they can get- as possible donors or receivers not necessarily of love, but of common decency.”  He believed that the extended family, or adopting strangers as kin, was the backbone of humanitarianism, and that the dissipation of it in America was the cause of widespread loneliness on a personal and social scale.  He also believed that the extended family was a key component in a long and healthy marriage.  The idea is that two people will inevitably grow weary of one another if the only thing they gain in the partnership is the other person.  But if the couple gains an extra ten people for instance, the likelihood of staying stimulated increases tenfold.  Vonnegut went on to say that it was this loneliness and deep longing for family that drove people to religion, a sad and desperate act that often leads to irrational thought and senseless violence, he thought. In the science fiction novel Slapstick (or Lonesome No More!) Vonnegut humorously addresses this breakdown with the creation of the “artificial extended family”.  Every citizen is given a middle name like Rock, Flower, or Rainbow for example, and every other person with the same middle name as you is your new relative. Ta-Da! Lonesome no more!  

Fortunately, I don’t need an artificial family. I have plenty of love spreading from the East coast to Los Angeles and up through the Northwest.  I feel very, very blessed!

Yesterday we went to the Bellingham market, a cross between a farmer’s market and an art walk with live music.  It was a blast!!! I peddled a blender to make a smoothie, Nica learned to hula-hoop, Theo had his face painted, Indra, Angela and I shopped, and Tree and Brent patiently supported our mission. Today is the 4^th of July, and we’re going to Aunt Debby and Uncle Barry’s later to celebrate our in-TER-dependence.

Much love to all of you!!

-STEVIE