Family Portraits

I have a picture that I love a lot. I've left it at home right now because it currently makes me sad. It's a family portrait from a few years ago. Many years ago actually. Two of my cousins weren't born yet, and I still had long hair. There have been faces that have disappeared from the picture because of circumstances entirely out of my, or anyone's, control. My uncle has passed away, and another one has left for his own reasons. There have also been faces added to the portrait. Two smiling beautiful children who live far to far away from me for me to visit all the time.

The best thing about the portrait is not what is in the portrait exactly. The fact that the portrait exists at all shows the everyone was able to be in the same room without attempting to kill each other. It shows that there are some things stronger than the petty fights and the constant disagreements between people who are related by genetics and some who are only related because of the people they love.

There are such strong things that bind families together. There is the strength of blood ties, that even when we don't like our families, we still love them. The stronger parts of our families are the ones that we choose.

There is a group in my family that we call the Outlaws. These are the members of the family who have all chosen to be a part of this crazy group we call family simply because they love each other. To create a short explanation, those included in this group are my mother, my aunt and it used to include my two uncles. These are those who have married into my father's family. They bond in ways that can happen only from being around pure insanity on a regular basis. They are a close group despite the fact that none of them are related by a genetic code, other than the one the proves they are all part of human race.

The family portrait I have is not perfect. There have been major changes over the past years. I am not the same person I was then. The important part of hanging onto the portrait is not that the faces haven't changed. They have. We have all changed. The important thing is that we are still a family. Despite all of our differences, we are still family.