It's Sunday Y'All

 

Page 49 of 366. Good Morning everyone. I hope you all had a great sleep and that today is nothing but fantastic for you. I was about to say, I hope you have a great work week, but apparently it's not just a holiday here in Canada, but the States have one tomorrow too. 

For me, today is just going to be a chill day, although I am having a hard time relaxing because of the persistent whistling wind outside my place... in case you didn't know, I have a huge love/hate relationship with the wind. 

Like there is nothing like wind therapy when riding on a bike, but it terrifies me when I am sitting at home... call it PTSD from the tornadoes, hurricane and Storm of the Century (Florida ~ March Break, 1993) I have been through. I never claimed to not be weird!!!

Today, however, I am going to talk about a subject that will come up quite often.. Family and what it means to me and those around me...

I will explain a little about my life growing up... I was adopted into a Dutch family and besides obviously not looking Dutch, there was a saying that was very often repeated in my "impressionable years"" and it goes like this... "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much!!!" Now to the average person I guess this wasn't a big deal to hear, but when you hear that along with "you're not really my cousin... we're not blood related" or the words that are forever etched in my mind, "I wish I never adopted you!" cut like a knife.. I think my experiences in my childhood and early teen years have put a very bitter view on family (as in blood family).

Throughout the years, I have found my own family, which has nothing to do with blood at all. These are the kind of people I would catch a bullet for. So I have a very difficult time when people say, "Blood is thicker than water": especially since people are using the phrase for the complete opposite reason...

"Blood is thicker than water" is a bastardization of the full quote "The blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb."  "Those who stand by you, who shed blood in battle beside you... they are your family.." BONDS OF LOYALTY AND CHOICE ARE STRONGER THAN MERE GENETICS!!!

I really wish people would educate themselves before they spew things they know nothing about. In all honesty, sometimes it's family members that cause the heartache. I say stick with the ones who actually matter, and care about your happiness and well-being. Blood means nothing if all they are, is a thorn in your side!!! THESE ARE THE FACTS.

There's a reason I chose to talk about this today. I am not bitter about my upbringing, nor am I falling down a rabbit hole of self pity because I know that I cannot change things, therefore I need not dwell on them. I am actually writing this out of joy...

It may seem odd to you, but I do not get jealous of things I don't have, nor understand. I love witnessing how some families are. I love watching and listening to a son and a mother, who have such an incredible and loving bond... this is not to say that there aren't ever disagreements; but the fact that they work through it and have unconditional love for each other is a beautiful things. Listening to how a grown man takes care for his ailing parent, without a question... is beautiful and selfless to me. Watching how a woman, who bickered with her mom incessantly, mourns for her and miss her every day... It's a sad, but a beautiful moment in the sense that they still had an amazing bond; no matter the circumstances. Or what about the brother who protects his sister to the ends of the earth, or the sister who does the same???

I am going to end this blurb with one more thing. I have in my family (Blood and Adopted)... 6 brothers and 2 sisters... I have no contact with them. I have both my adopted parents still (Yes, they are mom and dad, if you're ever seeing that in my blurbs),... and I also have the woman who spit me out, alive and living somewhere in this world. The only person I stay in touch with is my maternal aunt, who I call "mum". 

What I am getting at is this... my TRUE family are the brothers and sisters I met along the way; through various walks of my life. I have 2 brothers that mean everything to me (I have others I call "brother", but there are two in particular that I share everything with). I have a few sisters that I absolutely adore and would do anything for. People scoff at me for saying this, and calling them that; but I just give them a big FU because no one is going to tell me who my family is or who it's supposed to be. These beautiful souls have proven time and time again, that they are not going anywhere and I continue to stand by them through everything. That is my family!!!

Stay safe. Stay warm. Be well. Be blessed. Much love and respect to my Lovies.