Elastic families

I am reminded that it is a very good thing to make a contract with oneself, because this is one of the ways that things get done.  I was so tired tonight, because today we moved furniture, I did laundry, went shopping, put away groceries, cleaned up the kitchen, moved some more furniture, and was thinking I was ready to drop, but then I remembered that I had a contract with myself to write my blog twice a week, so here I am to fulfill my contract. 
Everyday, I try to think of three things that I appreciate, and to really feel that appreciation for 30 seconds.  So today, I can appreciate how elastic are our homes and families. Our daughter has come home for awhile after breaking up with her husband.  It has challenged the way we use our rooms, and everyone has tried to adjust. Families have always been elastic, when they need to be--taking in a relative who needs shelter, welcoming new inlaws, drawing together when there is a loss, helping each other during hard times. Our homes manage to support those changes in size and form, and we open our doors, tighten our grip, and make it all happen.  Today we managed to give Bob a place that he can work at his computer unhampered, and while it is not the ideal situation, it will work as long as we need it to. That was what all the moving of furniture was about.
 In the same way, I grew up in a house that was maybe 1200 square feet, had three bedrooms and one bathroom that served nine of us.  There were 5 adults and 4 children, and while it was certainly harder on the adults that it was on me, the youngest of us, we managed.  Other post WWII families did the same, and somehow we grew up, got educated, lived, breathed, enjoyed, and lived productively.
So here is to the elasticity of families and of houses, whose walls embrace and protect us, whose warmth comforts, and whose willingness to adjust to our needs at any given moment are as good as it gets.