From a paper I wrote last semester on my ethnic history.
I think that there are many definitions of family. There is your immediate family (siblings & parents), your extended family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc), & your adopted family (friends who are as good as blood). There are always certain people in your family that mean a lot to you for things you learned from them or the example they set for you. For many, our family is one of the first and most important influences on who you become and how you live your life. It's important for us to remember how much they taught us and to let them know how much we love them when we can. Coming from a large....no, correction: huge... family, I have quite a few people who were like that for me. Today is a time for me to send them some love, say thank you, and to explain how they've influenced me. The only exception is my immediate family, as I think they deserve they're own post on another day (mind you, my immediate family is 7 people).
First up I'll write about my grandmothers, the matriarchs of both sides of my family. I learned a lot from my grandfathers, but they both passed a bit over 10 years ago so I've had a lot more time with my grandmothers both growing up and now as an adult. My dad's mom, who we call Grandma or Grandma Lovvorn, taught me many things. I would say one of the biggest things was how to work with my hands. Growing up she and my granddad had a plant nursery and small farm and I worked there during the summers and on weekends or holidays - or generally when my dad wanted us out of the house. :) I learned how to plant things, tend to them and grow things - I learned how to harvest crops of corn, cucumbers, green beans, blueberries, and a host of other things they grew every year. I learned from her the importance of family. This is a woman who always has time for any of her 6 children, 14 grandchildren, or her growing clan of (currently) 19 great-grandchildren. She'll play with them, dye eggs with them, teach them how to cook, or generally just talk and share with them. She's amazing and an entirely beautiful woman.
My mother's mother, Nanny (or as we've renamed her in recent years, Nan), has become a good friend in the last few years after I had the fortunate opportunity to live with her for a year after college before I moved away with my husband. She also was an amazing example for teaching the value of family, but she taught me how to be adventurous and to love learning and exploring as well. She raised me on tales of her travels with my Papa, with whom she had traveled the country for most of their marriage, spending time in campers and state parks. She (and he) gave me a love for nature and the outdoors that I don't think anyone else has been able to match in influence yet. She's visited almost any state or national park that you could think of and seen every ounce of natural beauty this country has to offer. She showed me how much there is to experience in my own backyard and how much excitement awaits me. It's an awesome gift with such an effect I could never explain.
My aunt Sheila, the youngest of my Dad's sisters, is a great woman who is a major reason in why I love education. Closer in age to many of my cousins, I watched her and my cousin Dana go through their undergraduate and graduate programs and enter the field of teaching as I grew up. I saw them learning and committing to the fight of helping others learn. Now she's a wonderful resource for me and a ton of fun to talk to about teaching or any other thing we love to talk about. She is a fantastic mom to two young ones, setting an example for me in that sense as well. We disagree sometimes (though always respectfully), but so much more often we are able to simply enjoy conversations and I learn from her something new more often than I don't. I'll always look up to the example she sets in life, both professional and personal.
Dana, one of my cousins I just mentioned, and her husband Jed, as well as Dana's sister Janet and her husband Jon, are all examples of the kind of adult I want to be. They've grown to be more than family but to also be friends. I've watched them go after dream jobs & the lives they want, explore new homes in Janet and Jon's case, and raise kids that are turning into some of the best youngin's you'll ever have the privilege of knowing. The four of them are rolemodels without even realizing it I'm sure, and they have been showing me how to be an adult for many years.
My aunt Donna and Uncle James are the last I'll write about today, before I bend your ears too much. Donna has been a lifelong example for living an organized and wholly active life while still be entirely involved in her children's aspirations and activities. She taught me that there is nothing you can't learn to make yourself, you can always take the time to do what's needed if you're willing to get up early enough, and there's nothing more important than what your kids are doing. Uncle James has been incredibly hardworking my entire life and has always shown that you can not only make things yourself but you can build them yourself. My dad and all of his brothers know how to basically build anything you could ever need and it was great growing up watching them and helping in the little ways I could to see that you can build your dream house or whatever you might want if you take the time and work hard. The city of Gainesville's current Deputy Fire Chief, he's a rolemodel and awesome person for anyone to have the chance to know - consider yourself lucky if you get to know any of them.
I really could write something about essentially all of my family, but I fear that I would drive all of you off a metaphorical cliff into boredom abounding if I did. More to save for another day. In any case, I love you all and hope you all know how much you're appreciated.
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