"Forever Home"

The fourth of July, my first major holiday in this segment of my life and it was a propitious one.

I was welcomed into a huge extended family connected to me through my daughter. It was a great day filled with lots of fun and a surreal sense of belonging.

I think I know what a stray dog feels like when it is taken to its new "forever" home now. Everyone at the party went out of their way to make me feel at home. Everyone meaning 92 year old great grandmas, sixty something grandma and grandpas, grown children, teenagers, right on down to a six year old hoyden, and I "got it." In this family there are no strangers, only newer members of the family.

There were games to play, boat rides to take, shelters from the sun to set up, great music to listen to, stories to share and no pressure to do, or not do anything. I was struck by the similarities in our stories right from the start and I don't know why that surprised me. It was my daughter, after all, who led me to this place and she hasn't fallen far from our family tree at all