I’m grateful for my family. Though my nine brothers and sisters and I lost our parents over the last 15 years, we still remain close.

 

Over Christmas, we held a family gathering that included sons and daughters, in-laws, grandchildren and nieces and nephews. I am so appreciative for the fact that every one of my siblings still lives in the area and we all get along great.

 

We know, as we all continue to age, there will come a time when we will be visiting some of us in nursing homes, hospitals and eventually funeral homes.

 

I don’t mean to be morbid, but it’s something that crosses my mind every year my birthday comes around or a birthday of one of my older siblings.

 

A couple weeks ago, I was told I almost lost all four of my brothers on one day. And I escaped the near-tragedy only because I didn’t receive an email my little brother sent to me days before.

 

When I was going through my email accounts on my computer, I noticed a message in my iCloud account that I rarely ever use. When I opened it, it was a message from my younger brother asking me if I’d like to go to the upcoming Vikings game.

 

The day I got the email was a couple days after the Vikings had played their final home game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts, so I was confused by the email until I saw the date. Brian had sent it to me the Wednesday prior to the game but I didn’t read it until the following Tuesday.

 

Rats, I said to myself. It would have been my first game at the new stadium.

 

Little did I know, but Brian had gotten his hands on a set of four tickets and was shooting emails to the brothers to see who wanted to go. All my other brothers got the email, so they said “yes” and met at my oldest brother, Dave’s condo.

 

This week I chatted with my brother Tim, who was one of the siblings who went and he told me a scary story.

 

All my brothers — Brian, Dave, Tim and Chris  — convened at Dave’s to drive together to that Dec. 18 Vikings game. They climbed into Chris’s vintage Crown Victoria and hit the highway early for the long drive in. That day was one of those excruciatingly cold days we recently had in the state and the weather played a role in this story.

 

Just a mile or so down the road from Dave’s place, Tim told me he was in the passenger seats and noticed Chris driving dangerously fast on very slick roads. Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, the car slid and did four spinouts before crashing into a fence along the road.

 

Fortunately everyone escaped the incident without a scratch, but it got everyone — including me — thinking about how tragic this scene could have transpired had the vehicle flipped, hit another car or entered oncoming traffic on the other side of the median.

 

To finish the story, the boys were unable to dislodge the vehicle from the fence and within minutes, a friendly stranger offered to give Dave a ride home to pick up his truck and a tow-truck arrived on-site within minutes of the accident.

 

Bottom line, everyone was okay (car wasn’t) and they all were still able to make the game on time and enjoy the comradery.

 

Again, it’s instances like this that weigh make me appreciate my family for who they are and what they mean to me. Someday I’m going to lose them or they will lose me. It’s inevitable, so time becomes more precious and family gatherings more important.

 

I thank God for their significance in my life and their love, friendship and generosity.

 

I think we all need a little reminder to try and keep family close. But none of us want that reminder to come in a near-death experience like I got that Sunday morning.

 

We never know when one day they’ll be gone from our lives forever.