We Are A Family Like A Giant Tree Branching Out Towards the Sky...

This past weekend was my biological father's mother's side of the family reunion. Now I know who my relatives are, if I randomly saw them around the area I spoke, so forth and so on. But I never really knew them. Partially due to the lack of a relationship I had with my father. But that's an ENTIRELY 'nother blog, for a whole 'nother day. But @ any rate, as I sat @ the meet and greet Friday, I couldn't help but still feel like a stranger. Faces looked familiar, I remembered some names...but it wasn't that natural just ::what's the word...:: chemistry, familiarity. I sat downstairs and got on my phone to chat with 2 of my bff's via Gchat & text msg. I couldn't quite verbalize everything that I was experiencing so I simply stated, It's amazing how someone could still feel like a stranger around their own family.

Naturally this led me to wonder, what truly is the definition of family?! I mean, if it's what Webster's Online Dictionary defines it as, a group of persons of common ancestry, then I have a really big family. But what about those people I consider family because my blood family wasn't around because I, too, chose not to be around them? My friends, not this particular side of the family, were there when I cried...when I was hungry...when I was broke...when I was weak...when I needed encouragement...when I was happy...when I received good news.

But let's go back to the reunion this weekend. I chose to attend every event this weekend, except for the picnic (didn't want to sweat my press out, lol). And I did this because I wanted my family to be my family because of more than a bloodline we share, but because we have a relationship. As I stated in a previous blog, we have the choice to create happiness in our lives. And this choice has brought more than happiness, it has brought joy, closure, and filled voids all in a matter of days. I don't know how many of you know about the website Ning, but it is also a social network...kind of like a mix between facebook & myspace. But my family has a page on there and I joined so that I could add pix from this weekend and continue in reconnecting my family. My cousins, aunties, and uncle have all written beautiful and priceless comments on my wall and i LOVE it! Well the next day after the reunion, I received an email from my Auntie Jean, who has always been my favorite for some reason...But anywhoo, she sent me the following e-mail that brought tears to my eyes:

Hi Whitney,
It was great having you with us this week-end Whitney.  You just came in
and fitted in and rolled with us.  I loved it!  Please don't stop coming
around us. We will be having a dinner again real soon, at my house I
think.  We will let you know or keep you posted.  You've grown up to be
quite the lady and we are so proud of you.  I'm happy that you are not
going to allow the past to determine your future with your family.
Stay in touch.

Much Love, Aunt Jean

As much I claimed I wasn't gonna have anything to do with them, deep down
I yearned for them.  And as much as I secretly missed them, they missed
me too.  I'm not saying that you need to call up every family member
you haven't spoken to and forgive and move forward.  But step out and
reach out to one...the one you used to call all of the time when you
were younger...or perhaps the grandmother who used to press your hair
at her kitchen stove...or your favorite cousin who always took you
shopping & bought you things your parents wouldn't allow.  So today
I'm thankful for all the family I have, because it's not just the
bloodline it's the relationship.

Goodness, out of this one tree that is me, I have so many branches reaching out towards the sky. Some have been broken and unrepairable, while others are barely hanging on. Will you catch it and mend it before it's too late?