Family, it’s a major theme in many movies and books. Often it’s the absence of family that creates the plot line–the orphan longing for a family, or the long-lost sibling. As I prepared to write this post, I searched for a specific quote from the Dragon Courage series. I used the find option and searched “family” through Dragon’s Future, Dragon’s Heir, and Dragon’s Revenge. I was impressed with the amount of times that one word shows up in the first two books.

Family is something dear to my heart. It always has been. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that at age four my family moved three hours away from my grandparents and aunts and uncles. Then four years later, we moved two thousand miles away from them all. Every two years or so, we’d meander back across country to visit. The cousins would pick up where we’d left off, best of friends. With this long-distant relationship with family, my parents did something that was very helpful for my siblings and me. They created new family. There were three or four families that became like aunts and uncles and cousins.

When I married my husband, family became an important part of our identity. It was easy to decide where to spend Christmas. We’d have two celebrations, one with my family and one with his. After college when we settled down to live in one location, we still did many things with my siblings and parents and my husband’s family. Our kids grew up with cousins around them. As the cousins matured and became young adults of their own, it was fun to watch as they became friends as well. When my in-laws celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, the cousins all got together. As we cleaned up the party, the adults sat back and laughed as the kids danced and played with helium left over from balloons. Several incriminating videos of obnoxiously high voices were taken and shared among the cousins.

Today, though, I think of my family left back in the Mid-West who have never met my kids. What would grandma have thought of them? Would she have enjoyed sitting and chatting with them? She was able to meet my oldest when he was one-year-old. What about the second cousins that my kids have never known. Would they get along as well as they do with their West Coast cousins? Who knows. Maybe one day, the kids will take it upon themselves to journey back to see where my roots lay.

Until then, I’ll cherish family–even emotionally adopted–cause that’s what family does. Tweet

Dragon’s Revenge excerpt:

Awhile later, Ruskya was mentally calling Kyn. “Youngling, it is good to have you home. It looks like you made it just in time. The storm is ready to settle in.”

“I see that. Part of me wonders why I left the warmth of the south,” Kyn joked.

Ruskya’s hearty laugh reached his ears. “I hear you, youngling. I wondered that myself, but there’s family here. We’re complete now that you are back.”

“Thanks, Ruskya. I needed that.”

“No problem. Why not come here for a meal?”

“What if this storm turns into a bad one? Do you really want me there for a day or so?”

“Youngling, you know nothing of the love of a family if you have to ask that. Of course we want you. We’ve missed you like crazy since Braidyn’s wedding. Besides, we’ll probably stay up all night talking anyway. It’d be like it was when you were a newly chosen youngling.”

Kyn smiled. He was home. Ruskya wanted him; Ma and Da needed him. He belonged.