Month of Gratitude: My family

With Thanksgiving coming up this month, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write down some things that I'm grateful for in my life. But I really can't narrow everything down to just one post, so every single day I'm going to write a post about the thing I'm thankful for. Hopefully in later years I can continue this trend, because I know there are more than just thirty things I'm grateful for. So I'll just jump right into it, then.

#1: My family

I come from a decent-sized family that's grown a lot in just the past few years. Both of my parents are still alive and well (Rich and Lisa), I've got an older brother (Chris), two older sisters (Lindsay and Katie), and a younger sister (Sarah). Chris is going to get married at the beginning of December to a fine woman named Amanda, and Katie has been married for seven years to her husband Joe. Katie and Joe currently have three kids, Claire, Caleb, and Evalyn, with a fourth arriving pretty shortly. We've also had a number of pets over the years, including a number of fish, a guinea pig, and a few dogs, all of which I like to include as family as well. And I have a number of aunts and uncles from both sides of the family, with so many cousins I can't keep track of them all.

There is a lot that I can say about my family, so it's hard to pick just a few aspects about them that I'm grateful for. But probably one of the biggest qualities that first comes to mind is that they're incredibly supportive. And it's the good kind of support, too; I feel like I've tried to make a lot of good decisions in my life, and any time I asked them for help (or even if I didn't) they would be there cheering me on with those good decisions. If I was ever making a bad choice, they'd show their concern and counsel a lot with me about what I was doing and help me try to get back on the right path. Even if I didn't show it then, those times that they helped me make the right decisions are some of the ones I'm most thankful for, because I can see where I would have ended up in a lot of situations if I went with those bad choices.

My family's often just fun to be around. A few weeks ago we had a reunion of sorts up at my parents' home, with almost everyone from my mom's side of the family coming to visit for a while. Despite not being familiar with everyone there, I felt more like I was at home than many other places I've been in the last few years. Pleasantly comfortable would probably be the best way I could describe it.

I consider my family members my friends in a lot of ways as well. I've spent a good amount of one-on-one time with each of them, whether it be to go see a movie, going out to dinner, taking a road trip, or even just hanging out and talking. I can think of specific times with everyone (at least in my immediate family) where we've spent time together to grow that personal bond.

I love my family, and words can't describe just how grateful I am that they're mine. And I get to be with them forever.