My Tribe

                                                         When I start looking around me and take the time to notice the wonderful people that God has put in my life, I am overwhelmed..... to say the least. I guess when you are younger  you take things like that for granted, they'll always be there and time with them can wait. Not so. Some people I wonder why they are in my  life, they seem to test me to the limit and push every button on my control panel but I've come to realize they too have a reason to be connected with me and I with them. These relationships are as important as breathing, eating, shelter....... it is belonging..... to your tribe. My tribe has been made up of interesting characters. A grandfather who was an incredible influence on our lives and who taught us how to be childlike and how to enjoy the outdoors. A mother who showed us how to be a family even if we were a divorced one and taught us that idle hands are the devil's workshop ( evidenced when she found a bottle of liquor hidden behind the freezer and when no one fessed up, we were at church every time the doors opened and grass planting became our new hobby). A father who had a naughty sense of humor and who made so many life mistakes, but you had to love him. A husband who also has a wicked sense of humor but loves fiercely and deeply and though he seems gruff, children swarm over him like bees to honey. A daughter who brillant, smart, funny and so completely comfortable in her skin I have often wondered, where did she come from? In the odd assortment of brothers, grandmothers and friends and family, is where I find myself, nestled somewhere in between. Belonging.             Suz