Family.

That's an interesting concept for me. The dictionary definition would be the people who you live with, the home and place you are born and raised in, the blood and genes you share with those that usually also share your last name. But family is deeper than that. And family can mean so much more than that. Of course, there are the grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, immediate, extended, what have you. But, there are so many other types of families that one can belong to, that one can aspire to be.

Work families, church families, sorority/fraterntiy families (I was in a religious sorority in college, and it was nice to have a such a strong sisterhood connection with all those girls) and then the family I am going to talk about.

You have friends in your life that you just can't do without. They see all your faults.... and love you anyway. They listen to all your stories.... again and again. They lift you up when you are having the worst day possible.... and to make it even better, they can tell when you are having the worst day possible. They make your life a more perfect place, just by being in it. You don't have to be related to these people by blood at all, but in a way you are still related. You are still family. The bond is so strong and you are so close that no other term can fit. The love you have for that friend or for that person can fall under no other descripton than... "they are a part of my heart, they are a part of my family."

I have such people in my life. And it took me my surprise this past weekend just how much these people truly mean to me. They are my true family in every sense of the word, even though there is no blood relation there. I wouldn't be who I am without them, and I will never have the breath or the time to tell them just how much they mean to me. They are my second family.... and I truly do love them. One of them knows....the rest will surely follow. And I will follow my heart from here on out, wherever it leads me. Because I know now where my home really is.