Uncles and Aunts

My Dad came down this weekend.  Just for an overnight which is a good amount of time to have people in the house.
It seems like growing up, we saw our Aunts and Uncles a lot.  Both my parents came from fairly large families so there was no shortage of Aunts, Uncles and (most definitely) cousins.  I remember being young and knowing that they were family.  But it wasn't until I got older that I realized that they actually were my parent's brothers and sisters, and that when my parents grew up, my Uncles and Aunts grew up with them as my siblings were with me.  This means all the fights, and unfairness I saw, they probably saw as well.  It seems there are lots of people now, who hold some of the fights a little too real now in the form of sibling rivalries as adults - or some close facsimile of adulthood.  Our family is not at all close, so this seems rather silly, or maybe quaint, but certainly a waste of time.  Looking back, I wonder how much those sibling rivalries played a role for my parents, since the family was a lot closer then?  I can only guess, and I really don't want to know, but it is interesting to look back on those years and think of "those people" as not my Uncles and Aunts, but as my parent's brothers and sisters.
It was nice to have the visit, but also nice to have the rest of the weekend as normal.