There are many out there for which the phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’ makes much sense. One of my closest friends has had a great, normal, adjusted childhood with nothing but fond, loving memories of her family. Overseas and distant, but still tightly bound to her heart.
As an adult child of an alcoholic parent (on one side) and an abusive parent (on the other), my experience was less normal than my friend’s. Normal is something I believe I am still only beginning to understand what it truly means. She is a good woman, a trustworthy friend, and honest with me all the time. It is a joy to experience such honesty and reality with my friend.
Families are our genetic mix, the bowl of soup from which we were spawned, but not necessarily beings we share much in common with, save for said genetics. I have had mentors in my life that helped mold and shape me and become the man I am today. Men that were nothing like my father; men that were strong, capable, successful, adept. In my twenties, Peter guided me as my father should have and without Peter, I would not have been able to retire in my early fifties. His advice was the best career advice I ever received.
Dotty was recovering from radiation treatments for cancer when I met her. True, genuine, honest and real, even amidst her own struggles. Before her death, she had become a better mother to me than the woman that raised me. She offered love, kindness, compassion and understanding on more levels than I can recall. She will always be in my heart.
My first friend on the ranch here reminded me, when I described being lucky to be here, that no, it was not luck. I earned this place. I worked for it. Scrapped, sacrificed and sold my time for it. It is mine from hard work, effort and steadfast determination to hunt until I found my own slice of happiness upon this land.
The luck, my true luck, is the people I am now calling friends out here. My community. We are a community because we need to be. We look out for each other for they look out for us. We care because we all know we are here for the same reason – our love of this patch of land. We can bond over such, protect such, treat each other kindly as such, and as lucky as I am to know these people, I can happily report that I am not related to any of them.