I know I said I would write about our trip to Northridge park, but I am not in the mood today. I have something else on my mind. Friends. And Family. I have questions regarding these two words or ideals.
Yesterday me and the children (all five) went to East L.A. to my best friend Michele’s surprise birthday party. Why would I do that on a moments notice? Well because I knew it would make her happy to see us there. And making her happy makes me happy.
How far do you go for another person? Is the answer different if you are related to that person? What about your spouse who you are technically not related to at all…but to whom you have dedicated yourself in partnership for a lifetime…are they your friend or family…both or neither? Or in a category yet named unto themselves?
What about if you don’t like those you share blood with?
Would you go “above and beyond the call of duty” for them just because you are related?
What about step siblings that FEEL like family, but who truly are not? What about step children….are the feelings for them really the same as those you feel for your own?
How about adopted children?
On this topic I have a viewpoint I’d like to share. I know in my head that 2 of my children were not conceived in my body, nor did I give birth to them. But…the idea of them was conceived in my head…and the birth of them came from deep within my soul..and in my heart they own the same amount of real estate as my other 3 children. A miracle happened when those boys found their way into my arms…God flooded me with the same mother-love that I felt for two older sons. He placed their body in my arms and their soul in my heart…right next to Case and Ry.
Are you friendly with your family members? Do you like them? Would you see them in a social setting if you weren’t related to them?
I ask these questions because…it truly is still very hard for me to go anywhere with the littles. It is a major undertaking to go visit, run errands or go on an outing for pleasure, but for Michele, who has put all aside to help me when I need her….who never fails to call whenever she is out to see if I need anything, who always listens without judging and is willing to stay up all night with a sick baby so I can get some sleep, who buys lunch for my sons when they forget their own, who takes me to the hospital for an emergency (albeit unnecessary) appendectomy, who takes the boys to school every morning so I don’t have to load up all the children, who folds my laundry and cleans up my poopy kids, who makes my children feel as loved as her own, who I know will always ALWAYS be there if I need her…when does she stop fitting into the classification of “friend” and enter “my family”?
In my heart…she is my family. So maybe that’s all that matters.
Happy Birthday Dear Friend! Here’s to the next 12 birthdays together!
Nin
Cynthia's Cyberspace 
What say you?