Family: hard to live with but lonelier to live without

I can see Alfonso struggle with the challenges of managing a restaurant with three other adult siblings. They tend to fight about trivial things, especially when they are bored, tired, or anxious. That´s natural. While creating this restaurant has brought them together, in a successful enterprise, it has also exacerbated tensions that continue from childhood, especially given their birth order and varying personalities.

While they fight and complain, they also have a tremendous love for one another. They enjoy the feeling of family and watching each other´s lives. Of course, they have brought husbands, kids, boyfriends and girlfriends into this family sphere, not to menton the other employees at the restaurant. Today, our afternoon lunch, at 4.30PM, included twelve people, was served at a big communal table and punctuated with laughter, spirited exchanges about politics, and a contented burp or two. Being here makes me miss my family and wish that we lived in closer proximity to one another. I am really fortunate in having a close-knit family -- it was the luck of the draw. Sure, they annoy me at times, but my life is better for them. Fonso´s is too.