To the majority of people family means mother, father, siblings etc. My life is just a little different. My parents are deceased and I have lost track of any surviving uncles, aunts or cousins. In recent years I have realized that family is much more than biology. Friends are what make up most of my family today. They are the people in my life who really care about my welfare and take the time to see the person I have become. They not only see that person, but encourage me to be even better than I am.
Living in a small town for over thirty years has created a sense of family that is difficult to accomplish in a big city. Because I have been involved in my community as a volunteer for many years I have acquired a multitude of friends from all walks of life. It gives me a warm feeling to go into any store in town and have people not only know who I am, but stop to talk to me.
My family increased by leaps and bounds when I decided to open a facebook account a few months ago. Wow talk about a big family! I am amazed at the number of souls who have sent friend requests. Of course, as with anything the relationships are sometimes short lived and some do not work out at all. The two most important words on facebook are confirm, meaning to give formal approval and delete, meaning to destroy or take out. Oh what power one finger possesses!
If you don’t take delete personally it all works out in the end. When you think about the millions of possibilities for friendship one delete is a minuscule drop in the bucket. When this happens I just move on and seek a healthier connection.
Today I am grateful that I have such a colorful conglomeration of universal family members. They add strength and positive energy to my being every single day. If it were not for the love my friends provide I would be a very lonely soul.
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This is so true! I grew up in a tiny Illinois village and now live in Amsterdam but every time I come "home" I realize what "family" really is. It's knowing every teller in the bank, getting a welcoming hug from the grocery store clerk, and people genuinely caring about you and your well being.
ReplyDeleteBiology also doesn't play a huge when you look at my immediate family. My Dad has no biological ties to me, yet he is very much my Dad since I was 4 years old. Throughout my entire family (and most now days) there are halves, steps, adopted, divorce, remarriage, all sorts of mixing of people who still refer to themselves as "family".
And finally there is my gorgeous daughter. Due to infertility we couldn't have biological children who were 100% ours, so we turned to a donor. Does this mean she isn't our family? Hell no and we would fight to the death with anybody who told us otherwise.
"Family" is whomever you let into your life and into your heart and who gets to be special enough to know the real you.
Thank you so much Sarah for sharing your personal story. I would like to flip it over and add it to my blog today!Oh well I am sure it will come up in yours someday!
ReplyDeleteWe attract people who are like us... Even over the Internet... lol...
ReplyDelete