I started to think about this last night. I generally formulate
a few thoughts in my brain before I spew forth onto the wide web. It got me wondering
who it is that I consider to be “my family”. Certainly the first thing that
came to mind was my own family – my partner, our five kids and our pets. Then I
thought about my family of origin, my parents and my siblings. This morphed
easily into the extensions of these families now –my brothers-in- law and
sisters –in-law, my nieces and nephews. I have a half sister that I have never
met who is technically family, though I know nothing about her at all other
than her name and age. Then there are the foster kids who have come to us and left us,
but who I will always consider my children.
Which of these are my family? What about the people who I am
not related to through blood but who offer me emotional support and “know me”
better than some of the people I am related to? What about the cousins and the
second-cousins, or the aunts and uncles and grandparents I have an affinity
with?
I guess all of them are family, though all different levels
of family, and I am grateful for all of them. I can see here though that my “gratitude”
has many levels – as many levels as there are different individuals. I suppose
I could do 52 weeks of gratitude for family alone. I certainly have that many
people that I could classify in this way.
Since I have a lot of weeks left and lots of opportunities
to show how I am grateful for many of these people I am going to focus - for
the purpose of this post - on my immediate family. I’ll start with my spouse. I
posted a bit about her yesterday but I will add here that I am grateful for her
because without her there would be no family at all. I would not have ventured into the world of parenting
without her by my side. I happen to think we are a pretty cool family, though I
know others disagree with me. There are lots of people “out there” who don’t
consider us a family at all since we are a same-sex couple, but nothing could
be further from the truth.
I am grateful for my oldest boy. My miracle Max. I have
blogged about him before, but not so much recently. He is now eight years old
and this post is a good reminder to me to show him more gratitude. I am
grateful for his persistence and his work ethic. I have not, and doubt I will
ever, meet a harder working kid. People have commented that he is likely “going
through a phase” but I know better. Last year he helped me volunteer in the
community shovelling the driveways for seniors who could not do it themselves. He
will work longer and harder than any other kid. I heard last week he was
helping the teacher put away the skis and boots from cross country skiing day,
and I know from his grade one teacher that he would offer to help when other
kids didn’t even think about it. He has a sweetness to him that few people see.
He is a great older brother (who often forgets he is just a brother and not a
parent). I am grateful for the opportunity I have to parent this amazing guy –
he gives me lots of practise!
I am grateful for my baby Ceejer. What a character this kid
is. His imagination never ceases to amaze me – he lives in his fantasy world
more hours of the day than not, and it is not in any way connected to the “time”
in which the rest of us dwell. He is
charming and fun – his whole world revolves around fun - which makes him fun to
be with. He is our spiritual connector. He has an affinity for the creator and
the world around him that he maintains close contact with. Driving home at
night he will be the one to point out the beautiful moon and starts, or the
sunset we should be grateful for. He reminds us to give prayers of gratitude
each day in our home and for this I am truly grateful.
Our third. Mike. Unassuming, quiet, sensitive Mike. He has
had a hard journey in his short life and it has touched him deeply. He has
great manners and is SO sweet with his little sisters, but he is right in
the middle of all the action, don’t
think for a minute he isn’t! I have to be careful with this little soul that I
am not “too” loud, or “too” boisterous, and that I don’t overwhelm him in all
my bluster. He told me the other day he thinks I am the prettiest and also the
bossiest, but I had to sit down and listen to get the message. I generally move
too fast. I am grateful for this guy who needs me to slow down.
My bird. As a side note to the gratitude idea – all my life
I wanted to parent – but I never wanted to parent girls! There was something
about parenting girls that intimidated me and I had NO desire whatsoever to
have girls of my own. I love my sisters and my nieces, but there was no way I was going to be a mother to a female! So much for that plan. This little girl stole my heart. She is feisty and
fierce and I dread her teenage years already and she is only three! I am
grateful that she came to my life and taught me that I have more love than I
thought I was capable of. I do. I have. I’m grateful.
Our bean. ZED. THE END. Shel always thought there was another
soul meant for our family. I moved too fast to get that message from the
universe – but I trusted her ( and hoped she was getting some
miscommunication!) Zed came to us and truly our family is complete. I cannot
imagine our family without her. She is like glue – our little spider web that
connects us all. She loves EVERYONE in our not-so-little family and they all
love her. I have love for ANOTHER GIRL! I am grateful for the completeness she
brings to us.
1 comment:
Adorable! What a great bunch. :)
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