To start, I'll always have my biological family. A crazy bunch of misfits that love a combination of hunting, fishing, music, and God. After being away for school for 5 years in Michigan and finally moving back home, I've come to realize the importance of not having to introduce yourself anymore - where people just know you.
The first group of friends that came along were my high school friends. There are some that have withstood the test of time and are still those that I can call and rely on. No matter how long we go without speaking, I know I will always be their "little sis."
Next came my Adrian College family. This group of people includes professors and classmates that were there for me from Day 1 of band camp freshman year to graduation day and every day in between. These people made life bearable as I struggled through those awkward years of early adulthood.
Included within my Adrian College family, is my sorority sisters. Oh, how many tears they have wiped away, hugs that they have given, and spontaneous adventures/hall sits we have shared. These women are some of my closest friends and are given the insufficient name of 'sisters.'
Another group people I don't think I could survive without would be my friends from the time I worked as a camp counselor. We've laughed, we've cried, we've made fools of ourselves, and abandoned personal hygiene together - and somehow we survived. I moved 3 hours away to work at this camp knowing no one when I got there. It's crazy how 3 short months living with a group of people can create a bond as thick as the lake seaweed we raked every summer.
So I ventured onto grad school and surprisingly, it took me a long time to rebuild the safety net that I was accustomed to. I had lots of factors pushing against me: I was nervous and had those 'freshman nerves' all over again, I commuted everyday to school, I worked multiple part-time jobs, I had a hard time relating to the other students that came from the big cities like NYC or LA. But I found a group, it took me two semesters and one horrible agency evaluation project to bond us, but we made it. A strong group of 3 other women that were some of the best cheerleaders a friend could ask for.
And then after graduation, most of those support systems became a lot harder to maintain.
Moving back to Ohio and in with my parents was a difficult task after being independent for the last 5 years. I no longer lived close to the people I had had supporting me for all of my young 20s. I came home and had to readjust to long distance friendships - but we made it work. And my friends and family groups I had had since the beginning had grown stronger.
But then I got hired as a hospice social worker, which definitely threw me a curve ball. You can imagine the feelings I felt being the 'new kid on the block' at work, let along being the youngest as well as freshly graduated. But sitting in our interdisciplinary team meeting this morning, 2 months after my hire date, I found myself laughing to tears after joke after joke was said at 8:30 in the morning. During the laughter I found myself pondering on the fact that these people are simply amazing. Just the night before, my supervisor and a coworker took a few minutes at the end of their day to give me a pep talk and fix my hair before going out on a date. Another instance is a couple of coworkers have referred to me as their 'little sister,' teasing me and picking on me (all of good fun) but then also praising me and guiding me as I continue to learn my way at this new job.
Family isn't always blood. It's sometimes the people that see you at your most vulnerable point - where you might be angry, crying, nervous, or excited - that are the closest to you and know you best. They know your ins and outs, your strengths and your weaknesses, and still chose to love you in the broadest sense of the word. I am so blessed to have a multitude of 'families' and safety nets to catch me when I fall.
And to those of you that are reading this that fall into these families - thank you, and I love you.
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