It's a Family Affair

So ol’ Merriam-Webster defines family as “a group of persons with common ancestry”. That means they share genetics, blood- that sort of thing. But we think it’s important to acknowledge the other kind of family: the REAL family. The ones who celebrate life with you, support you through ups and downs; struggles and life changes. Maybe this collective group includes actual blood relatives, but generally this circle includes so many other individuals that share none of your genetic makeup.

With November upon us, and Thanksgiving fast approaching, the Ginger and the Blonde can’t help but feel a little sentimental about our “framily”. We had the pleasure of spending this past weekend with Ed’s parents, Rob and Kelly, and while Ed is really their only son, it doesn’t stop Tyler from thinking that Kelly is his mother too. It just left us with all the feels- talk about #blessed.

We were insanely fortunate to take a “hometown” tour a couple of years ago as a Wolfpack. That’s going to have to be it’s own blog post, because it was EPIC. But basically, the four of us loaded up in a tricked out rental van (DVDs, video games, a sleeping palette, enough beef jerky for a small army) and spent two weeks road tripping to each of our families’ homes. When initially planning the trip, we honestly thought it would be a great idea for us to see where we each came from, but it was also MUCH cheaper than traveling out of the country. Little did we know we were about to quadruple our family size.

“There are friends, there is family, and then there are the friends that become family.”

We think it’s pretty rare to find friends that turn into family, but to also have your friends’ family turn into YOUR people too? Doesn’t happen often! Each of our families know we’re a package deal, so if they’re visiting us in Charleston- they’re getting time with all four of us, not just their immediate fam (who they really paid the money to see). Bonus for them! Luckily, between the four of us, relatives are typically visiting every couple months, so we never have to go too long without getting some much needed family time. Blood relative or not, we have found our people and couldn’t be more grateful.

Living far away from all of our families hasn’t always been easy, but it has made us appreciate the moments we have together even more. It has also given us a heightened awareness of how truly grateful we are to have such an amazing “framily” right here with us! So much love for the Wolfpack; so much love for the Hojnackis, the Brickers, the DeRosiers/Horns, and the Lanes/Harps! One big, happy (chaotic) family!

So with the season of Thanksgiving upon us (shouldn’t that really be 24/7/365, though?), make sure your family/ framily knows you love them; show and tell them what they mean to you. Now-tell us, who's in your family?!