Family

It is a quiet night, in the final hours of my birthday, and I am succumbing to a bout of introspection.

I spent the afternoon rekindling a waning relationship. It was waning because I’d allowed it to sizzle out, like an unattended flame without fuel.

I haven’t seen Mary Kaye for months, and have been remiss is making it a priority to see her. She was my mom’s best friend since they were small children, and her daughter and I grew up together as well. She is like a second mom to me, and has been there for me through many difficult periods of my life.

I love Mary Kaye very much, and to allow myself to be so caught up in the mundane aspects of life that I’d failed to continually cultivate this relationship is unacceptable.

I am a firm believer that your relatives are not always your family, and your family is not always related to you by blood. My family consists of both. Family is everything, and without relationships, humans are sad, doleful creatures. I know I certainly am.

I spent this summer trying to live my life as much as possible, with no regrets. But I need to make sure not to forget what makes life worth living. Having people to share experiences with, whether it’s your spouse or significant other, your friends, or your children, makes those experiences richer, fuller.

So I want to reach out to my family tonight. If you are reading this, I count you as family. I want to say thank you for being a part of this journey. To say I truly look forward to so many more experiences with you. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that time is trickling away, slowly but surely. So I want to say I love you all, and wish so much for your lives to be full to the brim, bursting with color and laughter, and I hope to be a part of it.

I am comforted in the knowledge that I have said what I needed to say to Mary Kaye today, and that I have said what I needed to say to you.

Good night and sweet dreams.