I consider every human being my family… as hippy-esque as this might sound. At 31 years old, you can’t change who you are.
Putting this aside, we’re still born into a particular circle. This time around my circle contains a Sicilian/Polish mother whose grandparents are literally straight off the boat and a German/Pommy dad whose family is a bit more of a mystery… but it’s safe to say, we’re generic Yanks… a European mix with interesting influence that results in many things that make it so lovely being back in touch …
For example, cupboards that hold enough food to feed a small army, Mom can’t help it. I don’t know if it’s simply in her blood or what… she can’t control herself. Good luck trying to visit my house without getting fed. Mom keeps enough food in the house to seriously resolve the hunger issue in any given third world country… it’s ridiculous.
My New Jersey based Euro relatives are heaps of fun for a million reasons… like teasing my hair as big as a Jersey girl in the middle of the summer strutting the boardwalk at Seaside. We decided to see how huge we could tease my hair and even busted out the ‘Aussie’ hairspray, which is totally not Australian at all but adds some sort of nostalgia considering that’s where I’ve temporarily set up camp.
Being home means more to me then I can express. There’s this unspoken healing that takes place… something ineffable. So many people have beef with their blood tribe… ‘i don’t talk to my family because of blah blah’ or ‘my mother and i haven’t spoken since blah blah blah…’ Been there, done that.
At this age, I’m over it. I know who I am… and I know where I come from. I’m around my blood tribe at the moment and, understanding that what this means is indescribable… all I can say is… ‘I get it.’
I get that there are elements in each of us that are directly related to where we come from, like it or not. They’re from the people that can travel back with us to the earliest days where we were comfortable enough to be straight up about what we’re about.
I’m about laughter, I’m about loyalty, I’m about words… I’m about relating with the soul tribe around me. And regardless of what circumstances stand up to me… I’m staying true to all of these things… staying true to what I’m about.