03/20/2026
The Mezzanatto Women
My mom is one of three sisters. Oldest daughter and everything that implies 😉. My family is filled with strong women. Like any female socialization ritual, our family get-togethers consist of lots of unfinished stories, loud laughter, and tangents. And dogs. So many dogs. There are 4 girl and 4 boy cousins, but this side of the family has always felt like a matriarchy to me. You’d have to ask the boys their side of the story.
Some of my best childhood memories were in my grandma’s house with all my cousins. My aunt found this photo and it’s taking me right back to this moment at Christmas circa 80-something. I’ve been thinking a lot about family lately. To me, family means a lot of things. Aside from the obvious relatives, it’s the people along the way who become family, the friends who you meet later and raise your kids with. It could even be coworkers you were “in the trenches” with at a horrible job and made it out to the other side. You know who you are.
As I sit by my mom’s bedside with a few members of the matriarchy, I’m struck by how similar I feel to my memory of this photo and the comfort of being together again.
