Family Christmas

I'll give you one guess where I was this Christmas. :)

I spent the holidays as I have the past few years: surrounded by the love of people who have taken me in and included me in their gatherings, their events, their adventures, and indeed, their lives. 

But that's not what makes family.

They've shared with me their family vacations, their birthdays, their Christmas mornings.

But that's not what makes family.

I've been taken into their homes when I needed it most: always given a place where I feel I belong when nothing else feels like the place I'm supposed to be.

I've been entrusted with their homes, their possessions, their children, and some of the most beautiful moments of their lives.

I've watched old traditions manifest...

...and new ones take shape.

But that's still not what makes a family.

 What makes a family is the knowledge that behind your back, someone somewhere will say, "No, that's not right. I know that's not how that person works," when information is taken out of context and grows as it moves from one person to the next. What makes a family is always knowing you have each others' backs enough to say, "Hey, this is what I heard while you weren't in the room. Can we talk?"

What makes a family is the knowledge that if you mess up, someone will still support you enough to save judgement at least until they hear both sides of the story.

What makes them family for me is knowing that through everything - the good, the bad, and the ugly - there is still no place I'd rather be than where these people are.