Family Tragedy or Family Joke

July: On FamilyJuly 24Instead of confronting family skeletons or secrets, do you try to stuff them down? Keep the secret(s) safe and bury that skeleton in the sump behind the house in the woods? I think you know the outcome of this option. That thing will stick its rotting, maggot-eaten hands and head through the dirt, dragging itself back out into the light and the open air for all to see and try to take you down with it.Or do you turn that tragedy into a joke? It doesn’t have to be a haha so funny joke—because, rarely, are any of the skeletons actually funny. No, what we’re talking about here is taking that skeleton and looking it dead in its dead eyes and saying, “I know what you are. I know what you did. I know you’re family—my family—and I can’t escape you, but I’m not trying to anymore. Instead, I’m learning from you—I’m learning what I will never do, and will never become, so thank you very much for teaching that. Now, did you hear about the time the rabbi, priest, and the writer walked into a bar . . . ?” You smile, you don’t deny it—you ask it to dinner and ask it to dance and say, “Look here, everyone! This is our family skeleton!” You let it know that you know. Then, perhaps, you can laugh at it, at yourself, and at the absurdity of it all and of an imperfect family—and move on.Reflection title: Family Tragedy or Family JokeCreative inspiration:  George Bernard Shaw, Immaturity (or source unknown/uncertain)Reflection question: What family skeletons have I tried to bury? Is it time I dig them up and face—and laugh at—them?