Our Second Family

I've had a hard time thinking of what to write about...after all who cares what I have to say about....well.....whatever? But then it occurred to me that the blogs I enjoy reading the most are ones where people just talk about whatever is on their mind, or happening to them in their regular lives. I like that a blog can be the voice of your thoughts in an informal way. So I'm going to make it a point to open up a little bit more and write more of what's on my mind. I guess you'll never know who might want to hear what you have to say.

This particular post has been on my mind for a while......

As you may know, my best friend Kate is moving out of the state very soon.....a fact that I have worked very hard to repressing my feelings on until absolutely necessary. That time is fast approaching as I have to take her to the airport next Thursday. The ways that Kate has influenced, changed and shaped my life and person are far too great for a mere mention here...but needless to say I cannot begin to count the many gifts she has given me. One of these being my second family.....or to be more precise...her family. Robby and I are, for the most part, on our own out here in California. His parents live in Colorado, my parents in Arizona and Texas. This has been the case for just about as long as Kate and I have been friends, which is going on 9 years now. That being the case I have been welcomed into Kate's family (and now my husband and children as well) in the absence of our own and I would like to take this opportunity to speak to whomever might listen about what I know about these wonderful people and to say thank you for all that they have done:

Dr. & Mrs. M are two of the most kind and generous people I have ever had the privilege to know. Between the two of them they have raised 5 highly successful and equally as kind children. Those 5 children have gone on to marry (actually the youngest will be married in January) people that have enhanced their core family and have given them many grandchildren who I have been able to watch grow over these last several years. That is the kind of success I want Robby and I to know. I have learned much of what I know about a sound marriage and family structure from their fine example.

Through the years this family has welcomed me as one of their own. We have shared holidays and family celebrations that I'll always remember. There has been help in moving (lots of help as Kate and I transitioned through numerous apartments), family vacations and lots of love and support. During the fires here last year, we were welcomed with open arms. While most evacuees were hunkered down on a cot in a high school gym, Robby and I could take our children to a place where we had a home to stay in, hot showers, gourmet meals and a feeling of complete security that if something happened to our home (and something very nearly did) that there would be all the help that we needed. Emma fell totally in love with Mrs. M; going so far as to call her Monna (which is what she calls Robby's mom). To this day every time we drive to Auntie Kate and Uncle Jared's house she asks if Mrs. M will be there. What's so great is that I know the feeling is mutual. For my sister's wedding (which was held in Kate and Jared's back yard), they were there to help make it a fantastic event. Mr's M made all the food, Dr. M took fantastic pictures and Kate's youngest sister was there to just help out. All of this simply because I or someone that was important to me needed them. I can't count the number of times that medical advice has been freely given....and there's no one that Robby and I trust more than Dr. M....if he says it's true...it must be so.

What got me thinking about all of this, is that for the first time in many years, I will not be spending Thanksgiving with Kate's family. As I had that thought it also occurred to me that with Kate and Jared moving there might be fewer of those opportunities to get together than before. The more I thought about that the more I realized that I very much did not want that to happen. I love being a part of that family. I want to make sure that we drop by for visits to the M. household. I'm fairly certain that Emma has found her long lost twin and best friend in one of Kate's little nieces. Katy lights up whenever she sees Kate's older sister as though they have some past history in another life or something. I enjoy spending time with Kate's brothers and sisters and their families and being apart of their lives. So that's what I'm going to keep on doing. Because gifts like those aren't something you should have to give up.

Robby and I are more grateful than we can say to Kate and her family for all that they have given us and our family. The relationships that I have built with them have been one of the true blessings in my life.

To say thank you just doesn't seem like enough...but I suppose that's all there is