Family

Family problems come and go but when you can walk into someone's home and immediately feel loved and included, it's a GIFT!
My California family has always been a center of warmth and inclusion for me. I could be away for years, walk in and feel like I am loved and I matter to everyone.
We all have and appreciate the same crazy sense of humor, we all interrupt each other in an energetic Jewish sharing of excitement of what we are talking about.
With all of us aging (like that's an excuse), memory is at a low ebb, so we have to count on each others' support and memory blips to A) be able to finish a sentence, B) remember what we were talking about before we were so rudely interrupted (LOL) and C) creatively finish thoughts and remember the names of movies stars and politicians not to mention people we knew when we were four (and by the way which aunt is in that picture and who potched who on the tuchus, Black Bottom?)
Being separated by miles may enhance the memories but sometimes I wish that I had grown up around my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. Maybe it would have been harmful to me in many ways to get embroiled in the family dysfunctions, who knows? Maybe I would have learned to keep my boundaries better because it would have been clear I needed to. Maybe we would not have ended up as loving and connected as we are these days if we had had to deal with each other more often.
I learned, instead, to make family of the friends we met along the way. I also learned to love and be inclusive with family and friends. What felt good to me was what I want to give to others. Being the third and youngest in my nuclear family left me often feel like the odd girl out. I learned to reach out to others for the connection I longed for.
I have family of blood and family of heart and feel fortunate to have developed such loving and warm relationships with so many people in my life.
I thank you all.