To The Family I Got To Choose: Thank You For Choosing Me Back

In this life, we’re bombarded with so many different decisions every single day. We need to figure out what we want to do for work and what to wear and what to eat and whether or not to send that risky text and what’s worth our time and what isn’t. Thank you for being one of the easiest choices I ever had to make.

Thank you for showing up in my life when I needed you most. Thank you for being there through the fun times and the tough moments, too. The birthdays and the funerals and the Sunday brunches and the breakups and the concerts and every little in-between moment that pulled us closer together.

Thank you for showing me that family isn’t just about being blood-related. It’s about loyalty, commitment, fun, common ground, mutual respect, hope. Thank you for telling me when I fucked up and when I got it right. Thank you for celebrating my wins both big and small. Thank you for bringing me back to earth and encouraging my growth.

Thank you for teaching me what love is. Without you in my life, I wouldn’t have learned that romantic love isn’t the only type of love that matters. You showed me that love exists in many shades and all of them are necessary to paint the bigger picture.

To the family I got to choose: Thank you for choosing me back. Thank you for making me feel seen and heard and important and allowing me to exist as all that I am. Thank you for being my comfort people, my adventure buddies, my soulmates.

I am so glad you exist at the same time as me. I can’t imagine a world without you all in it and I’m so glad that I don’t have to.