blood isn't that thick

"family isn't always blood. it's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. the ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what"

i didn't get the opportunity to grow up with my family. for most of my life i was raised in California while my mom's side of the family still lived in the Philippines. b'coz of the distance, we very rarely visited or kept in touch. however, my dad's side of the family did live in California, not too far from us... but their relationships grew distant to the point of non-existent when my grandmother passed away. the only family i knew growing up were my mom and dad. fast-forward to today... i did my best to create family ties and build bridges with my cousins... the next generation of our family that shall carry on any relationships, traditions, etc. unfortunately, i wasn't so successful. always the inviter, never the invitee. i realized i was building bridges by myself. i was the only one taking initiative to gather everyone together... to hang out one on one... to get to know each other... to fill in the gap left by years of distance. for months i felt hurt by the lack of effort from the other side. i felt as though there was still a great big ocean between us that kept us distance (despite living only a couple miles away from each other)... no matter what, i'd never be able to experience the close family bonds between cousins or sisters or brothers or aunts and uncles.

this year, 2012, i told myself i'd let go of that feeling. thanks to the support of the mister; he reminded me of the people i do have in my life that do want me in theirs. i recently stumbled across the quote above via pinterest. between the support from the mister and reading this random quote... i couldn't help but feel grateful. albeit, we don't share the same blood, dna, or genes... i'm grateful for having people in my life who do want me in theirs... who do accept me as i am... who do want to see me smile... and who do love me no matter what.  i'm so grateful to have created a family for myself from all the close friends i've made in my life. i'm grateful for having an extremely good man in my life who has made me a part of his... and for his family to have welcomed me into theirs.

family has become one of the most important things in life to me since i grew up without it, and i will forever treasure those people who want me in their life as much as i want them in mine. ♥

i love my OHANA ♥