Family, Home

11-26-10 4:31PM

What is family? What is home?

Family are the people who are related to you. I don't just mean by blood. You might be related by common experience, or mannerism. Maybe you weren't related, but eventually your personalities rubbed off on each other, and now you are. I have a big family, in that case. I have my parents, my sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and cousins. They are related to me by blood; they were always, and will always be my family. Then I have siblings and children who I have adopted. We were not always family, but we love each other, and now they are as much a part of me as my blood relations.

Home is a place where you can relax, a place where you let down your guard and become young again, where you can be silly. Like family, your home changes over time. Before, my home was in China, now I have another in America. Next year, I'll have another, wherever I go. Sometimes the home of a family member becomes your home. This happens to many close blood relations, and sometimes to your adopted family, too. When two families merge, you may gain another home as well. It's a miracle that many of us hope to experience someday, or soon.

Thankful, for Thanksgiving is never over.