Family

Here's my little family, last weekend at the wedding we went to. And yeah, we're all wearing purple. For the five-hundredth time, we didn't mean to! Ryan's mom and dad were also wearing purple, so you can imagine the comments.

So anyway, family is my theme lately, obviously. With everything I've been going through lately, having a baby, dealing with my brother in the hospital, buying a house in the same town that I grew up in... it all makes me think about family and why it's so important to me. I have such strong ties to my family, my mom and dad and brother, and so does Ryan to his family.

Now that I have a baby I could never leave here. The fact that I'm going to have a 30 year mortgage soon also kind of concretes my feet to the ground, but nevertheless, this is where I'm staying. I constantly ask myself why. Why is it so important for me to hang on to this place, or to be around the people who put me here? And the only reason I have is love. There is so much love in my family. I couldn't ask for more.

A good friend of mine told me once that it's not where you are, it's who you're with that matters. That has stuck with me through the years. I've seen my friends pack up and leave here, looking for bigger and better things, and I admire their bravery, because it's something that I don't have. What I do have though is a warm and fuzzy feeling of being close to the people I care about, and knowing that at the drop of a dime, I can be here if someone needs me, and vice versa.

Being with my family this week has really made me think about things. My brother was also on his way out of town, on to his adventure away from small town life, and we are all so proud of what he's accomplished. He may not make it there on the time table that he wanted to, but he'll make it there regardless, because he has a family that loves and supports him, no matter what.

And that's what is important.