Familiar

Do you have a friend who is always fun to be around? Someone who you can go for months without seeing, yet the minute you are together everything is still familiar? Nothing has changed but the time?

Well, I have three of them. And they are my siblings. I didn't choose for Le'Dean, Andrew, and Christopher to be my family, yet we have all chosen to be each other's friends. Even though we can all get annoyed with one another at times, and there are times when we don't always agree with how someone has chosen to do something, we can still get together at the drop of the hat and have fun together. We forget our differences and truly enjoy each other's company.

Yesterday I had a surprise visit by my youngest brother, Christopher. He had driven to a nearby town for a wedding, and he had no clue until moments before arriving that he was staying only 10 minutes away from our house. I only see my siblings about five times a year, so this was an unexpected treat. And from the moment he walked through the door, everything was familiar. My boys ran to him as if they see him every day. He sat on our couch and told stories as if he visits our house often. He was entertaining as always, and I was proud to be his older sister.

Seeing Christopher made me wish I lived closer to my siblings. It made me sad that my boys don't get to see their extended family as often as I would like. But, it made me grateful that the four of us will always be familiar. No matter how long we go between visits or how far away we live.