Family

  It's the weekend! Funny thing to say when you aren't employed outside the home I know. But this is a special weekend....it's Thanksgiving here in Canada. A weekend spent eating too much turkey, drinking too much wine and spending time with your family. Before doing all those dishes.

  When I was growing up we spent every holiday with extended family. We would visit grandparents, aunts and uncles and play with our cousins. Of course we lived very close by for the most part. But no holiday was complete without a visit to someone or someone visiting us. It didn't matter how much you had eaten hours before, if you went visiting there was always room for one more desert or a small turkey sandwich.

  Right after John and I got married we started moving. Every three to four years. City to city. The norm in an air force life. Only once did we ever live near family. Sort of.

  You see we learned immediately what family actually means. It's the people who will stand by you no matter what. Blood and DNA is secondary. Just because you are from the same gene pool doesn't necessarily mean you will be around when I need a hand.

  Our "family" has many branches. Will has spent more holidays with us then most of our siblings....compliments of geography. He is family. Thirty years of friendship puts you in  a different category. When he got married, Tammy became family. See how the tree grows?

  This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving with our Ottawa family. Our kids are growing up together as cousins and we laugh, cry, argue and eat just like any "related" family. We take our own childhood traditions and combine them to make our own new ones. Considering we are from the east coast and they are  from Poland you can imagine the craziness that will go on.

  Tomorrow or Monday...whatever day you choose to celebrate...when you look around your table, remember family comes in many different forms. You don't need to look alike, come from the same place or share any genes. What you do need is to care about each other, always. 

  Oh and if they don't mind doing the dishes that makes them a keeper!

  Ang