Mom of Teens: Family is worth every penny

Just before Christmas, we made a trip to Chicago to attend my brother's wedding. It was a small affair. Lovely, beautiful and memorable. It was especially memorable for my little family.

The girls' paternal great-grandmother, who's 90, was there. She hasn't seen the girls in several years. In fact, I think it's been about eight or nine years. She's much older and her health is deteriorating, so I was thrilled that the girls got to spend some time with her. They are old enough now to remember her in detail. Especially the part where she was cracking jokes about the cold giving her a new hairdo. Frozen. They'll never forget that. And neither will I!

They also were able to spend time with three of their maternal great aunts. We all stayed at my mom's so there was plenty of time for bonding. They heard stories, laughed, ate and also cracked more jokes. Plans were made for them to spend part of their summer with their aunts. The girls orchestrated these plans all on their own. I was informed later since I'm the one who'll be purchasing the plane tickets. I'm perfectly OK with that!

The photographer took a family picture. four generations in one picture. It brought tears to my eyes. I'm going to have several copies made so that each of my daughter's has her own copy. They can look at it and remember eleven women, young and old, getting ready with one bathroom and getting to the ceremony on time, thank you very much!

Most importantly, they will remember the moment it clicked how important family is. No words or lectures from mom were needed. Only a couple of plane tickets and the willingness to connect. I'll just say it was worth every penny!