Celebrate Family (7/21/22)

 Good morning!  Welcome to a toasty Thursday !

 I have several siblings…five to be exact.  I’m the third from the oldest, meaning I’m sort of a middle child.  I never quite fit into the world of my older two brothers, and the two immediately younger than I am are sisters, with a little brother tagging along last.  So, I didn’t quite fit in with my sisters either, and my younger brother is enough younger than I am that I didn’t relate much with him either when we were home.

But I’m not here today to talk of my trials as the middle child.  I was blessed beyond measure with the family I had and have.  I have no complaints.  And if I did have complaints, I probably wouldn’t air them in this venue.  Besides, complaining about things that were true 60 to 70 years ago isn’t productive because the past is just that…past.

No, I’m here to talk a bit about the oldest brother.  Some of you may know him…our oldest brother Max Plank.  Now, while all of us have excelled in some area of life…Dennis in real estate, myself in health care and ministry, Marianne in educational psychology, Linda in community service, and Kevin in technology, Max has spent his life in music and music education.

At Eastern Michigan University, Max held several different roles in a life-long career there.  Accomplished musician, professor, composer and director, he helped shape the lives of countless students and friends.  In retirement, he remains active in the community, his church, his family, as well as in the music field.

His career is one to be admired.  His accomplishments could fill a book.  Many of his students still maintain contact with him many years after retirement.  He is still in demand as an adjudicator for music festivals, as well as for the occasional compositions he writes and sometimes directs.

More importantly, however, he is the glue that helps to hold us all together.  As the oldest, we still respect his opinions and ideas regarding the family, and look to him for familial leadership when necessary.  We have annual reunions as a family and extended family…usually lasting three days over a long weekend at some kind of resort or encampment.  Max is an integral part of the planning and execution of many of those reunions.

I don’t know where you fall in your family and sibling dynamics.  You may have a family similar to ours…we love each other and respect & celebrate our differences as well as our commonalities.  Or you may come from a dysfunctional family.  Your memories and experiences may be anything but pleasant.  Or you may not have a family.  You may have been in the foster care system or orphaned.  We all have different experiences with family and family units.

We are grateful for our family unit.  We are grateful for Max and his leadership and example.  And we are grateful to God for preserving us until this day.  There will come a time when we will not be a complete family.  We will begin to lose family members to illness and death.  When those days come, and they certainly will come, we will celebrate life, celebrate family, and celebrate the love of God in thankful praise.

Blessings.