Family and Friends

Over the years how I define friends and family has changed. I have gotten closer to a few of my friends than I am with most of my cousins. And honestly, this to me is not sad. I see or hear from my friends so much more than I do most of my cousins. My friends are the family that I have chosen. They were not picked for my by the hands of fate. My friends have been there through the hardest times of my life. I have also been there for some of their toughest times. We have also laughed and had a lot of fun. There is a deep love, and comradeship between us all. When I met each one of them, there was this instant chemistry, something that went deep into my spirit and theirs.

My closest circle, I have known for at least 15 years. I have added one or two people to it since that time. I have talked to my friends, and have more in common with them than I do other members of my family that are near my age. My friends mean so much more to me than mere friends at this point in my life. We can share our fears with one another, we can talk about our triumphs and our sorrows. And we support one another. They're dependably there. We do pick at each other a lot, but that's to be expected when you have a group of extreme smart asses as friends. We pick each other up, when they're down, and stand beside them when things are going good.

Through hell and high water they have been there for me. They are my family, they are who I feel close to. There are certain members of my blood family that I still have a closeness to. But it's a small number. There are whole branches of my family that I have never met and I do not consider them to be related to me, other than being purely by chance. The fact that they are descended from a common ancestor means little to me.

My friends are my tribe and my inner circle. They have my loyalty, and my support in anything that they chose to do. They are people of spectacular character, great kind hearts, and a keen mind. They live with honor. I respect that in them, and know that they consider me to be part of their families, even if it is just in an extended way. I see my friends more often that I do most of my family. They may have my last name, but not much else. We have next to nothing in common. Opposing beliefs on so many things it would only create friction, and fissures in the fabric that the family is. That doesn't work for me. I like to be able to disagree, and agree to disagree. My friends do that.

My family consists of people that I choose to have in it. Not the people that I am born into the same ancestry, and heritage. Not the ones that I see only once every ten years, or have never seen. Why should they have my loyalty when we do not know one another? They don't have it. I give my love, loyalty and respect to my friends. My first cousins have it, my aunts and uncle have it. My Fiancé and her kids have it, Christina, Julie they have it as well.