I am truly blessed with the quirky loving family I have. I have also been blessed having that family extend into more siblings, parents, and nieces and nephews, whom I'm not related to.
This past week I uploaded some videos of my Dad, and his friend Keith, playing music and tagged my family and the Moore family to get them connected. Over the weekend I went over to the Fords and got to see everyone and the kids. With all of these events it hit me that I associate these people and many more from growing up as family.
When a friend of mine, who was a guy, come over to the Moore camp for snow sledding, Keith asked him if he needed the "porch talk". Working at Beaver Camp, seeing Teresa Zehr in the kitchen and working with, swimming with, and being reminded of responsibility working with the kitchen staff, felt like I hadn't left home and I was working with family. Going to the Fords felt very natural, even though there was a larger group of people (which I can get overwhelmed with). I felt relaxed, peaceful, and didn't feel any pressure to impress.
Looking at this I can honestly say that I have been blessed in having a great non-biological family growing up where I did. I had extra parents and siblings in the Moore, Zehr, and Ford family (there may be families that I'm not thinking of right now- I'll probably add to the list). I gained family working at Beaver Camp and church.
Approaching 2013 I look forward to continuing to spend time with my family, related and unrelated, and endeavor to be as much of a blessing to them as they are to me.
