Dear LPG, 

Here is a question that I defy anybody I know to answer honestly with a negative response.  Is there any member of your family that you fell out with a long time ago and that you now just don’t talk to? 

I suppose the answer to that is that we would not be individuals if there was not at least one point that we don’t see eye to eye on with any other individual.  Hopefully we can either agree to disagree on most subjects and then continue with our friendships or walk away if that doesn’t work, but when it comes to disagreements with members of our families it is much more difficult. 

Many of them start because of the most trivial of reasons, but time (which can also be the greatest healer), can often have the opposite effect.  

So many of us dread those family gatherings where there will be members of your family that will completely avoid other members but worse still are the ones where the nasty confrontations take over.

I suppose that that makes all families dysfunctional to a degree but perhaps it is up to each of the members to work at eliminating the damage.  As I have got older, there are a couple of relatives that I am so aware that I have not spoken to for years because, rather than revisit some insignificant point that we disagreed over years ago, I have let pride get the better of me and it is easier to be that family member who avoids certain parts of the room during a family gathering. 

But as I get older, it also occurs to me that if I am not careful I might never have the opportunity to make things right; and if I am waiting for the other person to make the first move it is never going to happen.

Now that I am older, when I think about it, I am aware that so many people of my age have so few family members left and it does get you thinking about the ones that are there even if you haven’t spoken for years.

No matter whether it is a friend or a relative that you have been avoiding for a while, perhaps today is the day to go some way towards making things right.  Today is National Kiss and Make Up Day as good a day as ever to get started on the process.

I found a few bits of advice on how to get started for those with whom my message has touched a nerve…

IW, Bell Green

IW has some online suggestions for starting the healing process… 

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.. and a little information about the days celebration… 

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