I can't tell you how it happened. I can't even tell you when it happened, but it sure did happen. It's not easy for me to admit when things are hard. I try my best to see things in a positive light even when they aren't. Not because I'm fake or phony and not because I'm Pollyanna who doesn't "feel" negative, but because I truly want to live each day with no regrets...and the only way I know how to do that is to sit up, dust off, and keep on trucking. So...I'll say it...living down here with no family is hard, it's more than hard at times...like when I'm sick and Robbie's sick and I just want someone to come and take the kids so I can sleep for longer than an hour at a time OR when I have the potential for a romantic Valentine dinner with the hubby and can't find a sitter ANYWHERE!!!
It gets even harder on occasions. Ya see...I'm an occasion girl. I love to celebrate...so I celebrate with gusto the groundhog's shadow and the fireworks of July. I love a good holiday. And birthdays...man they're the premo-holiday...the one I love to celebrate the most. No...not just mine...anyone's. I just love them. What better way to show someone what they mean to you than to celebrate their birth???
Hence...the hardness. Enter my baby brother (pictured below with his lady otherwise known as Sarah Igglers)
Bobo, as my children have named him, is my only relative (great-aunts and distant cousins excluded) within an 800 mile radius. I have always known I was a lucky girl to have a brother like him, but I never really knew how blessed my children would be to have him as an uncle.
As great as he is, I still need more. It's a birthday celebration for goodness sake. So in the 17 years I have lived away from my family, I have inherited my own "family". Allow me to introduce them. (Note for clarification: the relation listed below is fictious and only to be used as comparative in nature...I know everyone has a crazy Uncle Paul!!!!)
Meet Nonny (not pictured)...
The fun, crazy sister who is spontaneous and zany and always comes up with the "water balloon fights".
And then there's Mel (also not pictured)...
The aunt who isn't married and all the kids love. She has the Christmas party at her house every year and spoils each kid as if they were her own.
Here's Heather (pictured below with daughter Allison)...
The sister-in-law that you love to spend family time with. Your kids and families compliment each other and you never have to worry about hurting anyone's feelings.
Meet Brandi (pictured below with daughter, Baylee)...
The cousin you spent every summer with as a kid. You adore her children and miss the time you had together but know your bond is still as strong as it has always been.
And Lea (pictured below with her son, Tucker)...
Your child's namesake...what else can you say?
And finally...our international man of mystery...Michael (pictured right)...
The family member that shows up every eight years and noone knows who he is.
Of course there are a few of our inherited folks missing...we'll highlight them another day. We may not share the same blood lines, but without these folks, I would not make it through. And as we saw today, at Tate's Birthday Bowl-a-thon...family is competitive and will fight dirty if it seals the win...
And when it's all said and done...it doesn't seem so hard with them by your side.
4 comments:
Man, O'Bryan. Keep them coming...you are one super writer. It is so true about friends being so much more like family to you.
It takes a village to raise great kids. That village doesn't always have the same last name on the mailbox.
Boo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Gee, I miss our times together that began in the 'ol C.O.E. building! I love ALL that you wrote about you. Days like to day and words like that make me miss you all the more. "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves."
PS. I'm planning a visit soon.
I cried when I read your post. I do understand what you're going through because we lived away from family for five years. You are very blessed to have such a wonderful circle of close friends. I'm so thankful that Rusty is close by and that you have him back in your life so much more than the past few years. I can't believe Tate is five years old. I remember the day he was born and it seems like it was just yesterday. You have become a wonderful mother and I'm so proud that you are my daughter. Robbie, Tate & Lily have the best wife & mom ever ~ xxoo
That was pretty incredible! What an awesome family you have. I always love reading your posts, but today was extra special for me. Too often I take my family for granted, but not today. Thanks for the reminder of how precious family (and friends) truly are.
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