kith - noun | KITH

An old fashioned word commonly used in the phrase “kith & kin” to refer to friends and family.

The familiar sights and sounds of Christmas; sorrel, ham, black cake and drawing close to one’s kith and kin.

FAMILY MAN WTF. The most taken for granted thing probably on the face of the planet. Truly. Can’t live with em, can’t live without em. Orson Welles once said we’re born alone and we die alone but I wholly reject that notion. You’re born with at least one other person, if not several.

We are bestowed upon parents, irrevocably connected to two humans from the moment we open our lil baby eyes until we finally close them at the end of our tenure. What we decide to do with that connection in the meantime is, regrettably, up to us. Take it for granted, resent it, accept it or cherish it, it’ll all be over before you know it. And you know what they say, you never know what you got till its gone.

Everybody probably feels like they have good reason to begrudge their kith. Daddy issues, mommy issues or the rare aunt and uncle issues plague us, obfuscating all the good they do and the support they provide and rendering their transgressions with immaculate clarity. I myself am guilty of this, thinking that with enough distance I’ll be able to lick my wounds and heal myself, but without the closure that comes with accepting people as they and why they are as they are, healing is nigh impossible.