Family*

My family lives thousands of miles away. We keep in touch by phone, Facebook and Skype. The S.O.'s family lives minutes away and, for various reasons I'll not go into, don't keep in touch at all.

My family has sent gifts for Baby. They have called and emailed to see how I am doing. In spite of the miles and some of them having their own health issues at the moment, they check in on me and Baby. The S.O.'s family has barely acknowledged our -- let alone Baby's -- existence. It's a sad state of affairs.

On the plus side, we have many wonderful friends close by who have offered help and advice, showered us with gifts, fixed us dinner and let it be known that Baby will have plenty of "aunties," "uncles" and "cousins" here in town.

Your humble blogger and her family--many, many years ago

I will do everything I can to make sure Baby knows his real aunts, uncles, cousins and grandpa back east, whether over Skype or through pictures (I have already created a family photo album for him) or actual in-person visits.

Still, it's nice to know we have people near us who will gladly step in to be Baby's family by proxy.

As he grows, I want Baby to learn that sometimes blood isn't necessarily thicker than water, and family -- like home -- is where the heart is.


*Family - a. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not; b. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for