Family.

What is a family? Is it some nuclear unit consisting of a Mommy and Daddy and 2.5 kids plus dog and an SUV? I think not. In my few short years, my many travels, and all throughout the lessons learned, my family has grown and molded itself into a strange brew at best. I am blessed with many mothers. Women with whom I have crossed paths with. Women who, for however briefly a time, have helped to shape me into the person I am today. I have met men who have protected me, cherished me as greatly as they would their own flesh and blood. I have made friends, be it originally or secondarily through somebody else, with whom the bonds are stronger than blood. People who I would die to protect. People who would do the same for me. I have children who I did not grow in my belly, but who look to me as their protector. The ebb and flow of this curious dance of life always keeps me on my toes. Very recently, I was shown a path that I hadn't planned on. There was someone which I was certain would be part of my life forever. Sometimes who I became so close to that I couldn't imagine a day passing without them in it. Then, one day, we parted. It wasn't easy. It definitely wasn't pretty. But it is EXACTLY what it should be. This one person may not have fulfilled the roll in my life I once thought they would, but they did me one better. He acted as a catalyst. He showed me things I'd never have seen. Taught me to appreciate things that I never thought I could. But what's more, he made my family grow. (NO he didn't knock me up!) Without the time we spent together I would not have met dozens of people who I now know as friends. Better still, I wouldn't know people who are now my family. It is a rag tag bunch. There's a crazy hippy lady who owns a coffee shop in the woods up north. There's a tattoo artist in New York. A marine in Texas. A street musician down the street. A child who called me mamma. A computer programmer in Vegas. Even a carpenter in Manchester. These people may not be blood, but when I hurt they comfort me. When I become discouraged, they encourage me. When I celebrate they are there to share my joy. Removing any one person from this web would be like losing a brother, a sister, like losing blood. Without them my life would be lacking. Though I know not what the future holds, how long I will be blessed with knowing them, what I know for sure is this: Sometimes, water IS thicker than blood. And for that, I am sincerely grateful.