Hi There...
Not to state the obvious, which I'm known to do, it's been awhile since my last post. At the time of my last post, I was both honored and humbled to walk beside a woman I could not claim by blood, but whom I called Mum, as she walked her final steps along the path of her life. In those months, either directly or indirectly, Mum showed me the power of family.
They say you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family. I don't think that's entirely accurate. Just because you can't claim blood to someone you call Mum or Dad, in no way does it diminish the importance of their connection to you or the importance of their influence in your life. They may not be your sibling by blood, but that woman you call Sister has your loyalty and love, that man you call Brother will stand up for you in a heartbeat, because of a connection. Call it fate, destiny, luck, karma, whatever floats your cosmic boat but there is a reason these people become intrinsic parts of your life on various levels and no amount of time or distance will ever change that. Sometimes those relationships become more powerful than the ones you can claim by blood and it's a simple as a text answered with "Yes." or hand held out to you when you and holding a candle when you feel you are in the dark and alone. Family is what you make of it, and family finds you. I've lost family I never thought I could live without and though it's been many years or even just months, thinking about them sometimes hurts like I lost them yesterday. I've also gained family in recent months, and through this universal connection, I can't imagine these Brothers and Sisters not being part of my life. It's amazing what you find when you're not looking for it.
Cherish those connections, nurture those relationships and keep those people close if you can. In a right and proper world, we would interact with these people, our family, all day every day but life gets in the way, and sometimes that interaction isn't daily, it's weekly, or monthly, or whenever you can spare the time. The connection is there, it may take you a lifetime to figure out the why of it, or understanding my come in an instant. Either way, that is family and family is what you make of it. Good, bad, or indifferent. We experience and we learn because every person we connect with on that level is there for a reason and part of the path we walk, woven into the fabric of our selves. Walking beside these people regardless of the lesson they teach us, is a privilege and worthy of memory.
That is all...
