Kathy in the Middle

Hello friends,

Before I get in to my thoughts I want to tell you all how much my family and I appreciate your kind words and support. We are in Italy, hopping from city to city and indulging in the flavors of each! Rich and I took this trip about 6 years ago. Now we thrilled to be doing it with Victoria and Joseph. Check out my Instagram @officialkathywakile for my photo journal.

It’s incredible to meet so many people from other countries as well as the U.S. that watch our show and have become so emotionally invested as we are. Thank you for sharing your stories and opinions, it really means so much to us.

Now for the episode:

OMG! I often ask myself why things can't be easier. Most things that have depth go through some type of turmoil to get there -- the earth was created by the big bang, and then beauty arose, etc.

This episode was hard to watch and re-live. When you are asked to help and then told to butt out, it is hard for anyone to gauge when to say what! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was invited on this weekend retreat, wasn't I?

And yes while I was apprehensive, once I made my decision to go, I went with an open mind and willingly participated in the exercises that the team leaders organized. When the fight broke out, we all did what we could to break the fight up! Even though I made a joke about my nose job, I did still attempt to help rather than run in the opposite direction.

Let’s back track to last season when Caroline was told that her help wasn't needed, and now she's being called to come and help. Does anyone see a strange pattern here? I found myself in the middle again, watching communications between my family members get heated and my Richie jumping in to try to stop the nonsense. Not that family matters are nonsense but we are a bit older, and as I know Caroline understands as my contemporary, family arguments should never get escalated to this level! There has to be a better way than physical and verbal abuse. We all know that, but sometimes our pent up emotions just take control, and before we know it, the situation has gotten away from us.
 
Life does not always hand you the deck of cards that are perfectly shuffled. Life is about learning and growing every day to form the deepest relationships possible and no money can buy that! The richest people (and I am not talking about money) have the deepest love connections to leave this earth with…yes, it’s bigger than us all.One thing I do want to mention, since we are in a good place, is that I get concerned when Teresa speaks about me discussing her parents, because I want to make sure we stay on the same page. To put it out there again, I don’t -- and none of the rest of us do -- speak for any of our parents, and we ALL agree they have nothing to do with this. T and I know that we continue to agree to leave it at that. So, let’s do. Done. Next…
 
I believe in family matters forgiveness is about letting go and moving on. Love and passion are two of the things that we the Guidices, the Gorgas, the Manzos, the Lauritas, and the Wakiles (and I think many of our viewers) have in common! The team builders said something very interesting in this last episode -- love and passion are what tears us apart but will most likely bring us together.
 
So, keep watching! It’s honest and real and maybe if even one other family can learn something from us, then that is a really good thing!  Putting all of our lives out there is a very scary and hard thing for a family to do. But, if we are strong and are not afraid to share our weaknesses, it can help others. And that’s what it’s all about for me.

Keep up with what's happening with me on my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter @kathywakile.
 
I'm looking forward to my new column for OKMagazine.com called “Kathy a la Carte.” Every Friday, I’ll tackle your burning questions about baking, entertaining, style, beauty, friendship, relationships, career, and of course, family! The first column went up, so check it out!

Keep it sweet,

xxoo
Kathy