Friends and "Family"

So I am living in a house with 4 other people (Will, A., K., and J.) and 3 cats (Ava, Sam, and Binks) and a new little 8 week old puppy (Jezebelle). Amongst us, we have several jobs, a whole lot of classes, and all sorts of other responsibilities. We shop as a house at Sam's Club, we take turns with chores, and we even have a dry-erase board on the fridge where we write whether the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty. Often times, I cook dinner for the house, drive people where they need to go, and make sure everyone is feeling okay and doing alright. I am the most like a house mother, but I don't take all the big responsibilities. K. is in charge of our bills, J. is in charge of the Sam's Club membership, and A. and Will are kind of like our protectors and helpers. They make sure that the animals are safe, retrieve Sam when he climbs a tree or the chimney (he's an indoor/outdoor cat who just showed up one day), and make sure that the doors and windows are locked and secure at night. We really do function quite well together and have become a little "family." When K.'s Grandma died recently, we all rallied to support her. I made her a poster for her room that says "You are Loved," we made her special dinners and desserts, we watched movies she wanted to watch to cheer up (like the amazing movie "The Princess Bride"), and Will and I even went to the visitation at the funeral home. The most telling moment of our close knit "family" though is when K. came home after she first got the news. I was lying on my bed and Will was sitting at the computer. Without a word, K. came and climbed into bed with me and just cried a little while I held her and rubbed her back. We stayed like that for awhile and she said "My grandma died," through teary eyes as I kept her close to me. And then when she was ready, she got up with a smile, and no other words were needed. We are here for one another.

It's wonderful to me that in life, you have your family that your born with, but you can also have a "family" that you choose to have in addition to that. It's about caring, sharing, and spreading the love. And as corny as it may sound, I love my little house "family."