Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Family Grillfest Toast

A toast from this past weekend at a delightful family grillfest:

Over this past year if you opened a newspaper or surfed a news portal, you were bombarded with unfortunate events. They ranged from devastating earthquakes to a record oil spill. The near term doesn't look that much brighter with rising crime, debt and taxes. Millions of unemployed face stiff competition for limited openings as our government faces tough choices to prevent its own insolvency.

Yet, despite this global adversity, which will inevitably impact all of us in some form, we have all been blessed with a record year:

Mr. & Mrs. Banrock are having a child, my brother and his fiance are getting married, and Jess and I are getting married.

Despite the adversity of the times, it is this merger and growth of our families that remains our true wealth.

It is a wealth that can not be taxed, spent or polluted.
It is a wealth that remains unadulterated whether we are employed or jobless, rich or poor, lost of found.
It is a wealth that grows or wanes based on the bonds we form and the love we share.
It is a wealth we must remember when confronted with the challenges of our lives and the noise of our generation.
It is a wealth I hope we all continue to grow in the years ahead.

It is this wealth that I toast to. To children, parents, wives, husbands, brothers and sisters. Or, just family, happy and healthy.

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