We are Family!

Have you ever had the thought, "My family is seriously crazy!"?  I think most of us have felt this at one time or another as we observe the nuances of our individual families.  I think as people get married, too, that you see odd behaviors in each others' families and think, "Seriously, what have I gotten myself into!?"  Some families are not very supportive, others are so in your face you feel like you can't breathe.  Some don't care so much what's going on in your life, others call you 50 times a day.  Some grandparents are super involved and go to every little league game and preschool program, while others see their grandkids only on major holidays and send impersonal cards for their birthdays. 
All through my life, I've heard people complain about their families.  They annoy us, they demand of us, they neglect us, and they have scarred us for this reason or that reason.  Yes.  It's true.  Families can be such a pain!
But when you take a step back and think about it, families are the foundation of who we all are.  They fed us, clothed us, helped us with our homework.  Taught us to ride a bike, made us do chores, took us on vacations.  We learned how to fight, how to share, how to love.  We were hugged when we got hurt and punished when we were in trouble.  We were taught to do our best, not fight with our siblings, and brush our teeth.  We knew that if we really needed something, all we had to do was ask, because our families had our backs.  We wouldn't be who we are without our families.  They are the foundation of our lives. 
It seems such an intrinsic right to have a family that it is shocking to think about how life would be without a family.  Who would take care of you when you're sick or make sure you eat your vegetables?  Who would bathe you, play with you, protect you?  Who would change your diapers when they needed to be changed and make sure you were hitting all your developmental milestones?  Who would show you the world?  Teach you animal sounds and colors?  Help you pet a dog and take you to sit on Santa's lap at Christmas time?  To be put in a crib and left alone all day every day seems too cruel a fate to imagine.  With no one responding to your cries, you would eventually stop crying.  If you couldn't get enough to eat, you wouldn't grow.  With no stimulation, your brain wouldn't develop.  Without someone to cuddle and kiss you, you wouldn't learn love.  You would never know what it was like to be adored and unconditionally loved.  You would never learn values and ethics and how to be happy.  Everything in life would be about surviving, but nothing about thriving.
Yes, every child deserves a family.  It doesn't seem much of a life at all without one, especially as a child.  I feel deeply grateful that we can help one child find her forever family.  We can't get to our baby girl soon enough!  And in the meantime, I hope everyone that reads this can feel gratitude for the family they have been blessed with.  Because despite the good, the bad, and the ugly, we are family, and we are pretty darn lucky to have one at all!!