Our family tree

Our family tree grows deep into soil made rich by our German, Irish, Croatian, Polish, Ukranian and, according to last year’s DNA test, Spanish (qué sorpresa!), Jewish and Scottish blood.

We have a strong trunk built on deep bonds and belly laughs, and our branches stretch wide, bearing plenty of fruit and occasional nuts.

So, when we spotted the perfect tree on a recent family stroll and someone shouted, “Let’s climb it!” we all thought it was a fabulous idea.

Then, two of our gamest members, the middle kids, began scampering up. The rest of us looked over at them and remembered that we’re actually a tall, gangly bunch and at least two of us are, frankly, old, and, well, tree climbing had never really been our forte so…we planted our feet firmly in the ground.

I ran over to find someone to snap a photo for us, while Katherine and Vinnie tried to coax other family members to join them in the tree.

Everyone, including our intrepid photog, laughed through a couple of shots and I thanked them all for, once again, leaning into my quest for the perfect family picture (which, by the way, still eludes me, but I digress).

We started to walk away, when the very best part of our family tree picture commenced. I’ll call it the extraction encore.

It began with some charm and a “Char-lie!”, a desperate plea for help from the six-foot-five, broad-shouldered brother.

Having scurried up the tree, Katherine and Vinnie both needed help getting down.

“Wait!” I yelled. “I need a shot of this!” and Charlie paused obediently with Katherine dangling from his shoulders.

“Got it. Thanks!”

The Vinnie extraction required a series of shots, two gifs, a girlfriend, a sturdy branch and a brother.

I wasn’t sure I had captured it all, because I was laughing so hard tears blurred my view.

In celebration of all the nuts in your family tree, please enjoy the following montage…