Family

"She took comfort in the familiarity of his smell, knowing that if she had lost all her possessions and her home, at least she would have her family."
Sage Steadman, Upon Destiny's Song

Today I had a very interesting conversation with my husband about the importance of family.  My husband is an only child and has no living blood members of his immediate relatives.  His mother and father, both deceased, were immigrants who came from Hungry and Germany, respectfully, without any know relatives that they had contact or knowledge of.  I on the other hand have two grown children, three sisters, brother-in-laws, nieces, nephews and several cousins that I keep in contact with consistently. I felt a sense of lose for my present husband ( a second marriage), that he felt alone in this world.  We have only been married for three and half years but tried to convince him that my family was his family.  This idea was a foreign thought to him, although, he has a great relationship with me and my family.
As our conversation continued about what a family is or is not, I realized that the definition of family was not universal.  I take my family idea from a community of fragments which reside inside of me.  It is composed of bits and pieces from my parents, siblings, children and friends.  My spouses has told me he is a vision of what a individual in a group is.  When I think about it, as I just said, family is not universal and should be individual.
I am going to remain alert and attentive to making a healthy relationship with my family that includes their reality as well as mine.