When I was a teenager I met my best friend for life. The moment we met, we talked and laughed and knew we needed to exchange numbers. We were in each others weddings, shared all our heart aches, supported dreams (even if they were totally out of reach), and shared in raising our children. We went on vacations together, spent holidays together, and our children are like brothers and sisters.
I don’t think the kids knew we weren’t actually related until they were older. Our parents and grandparents also consider us all family, which is rare. Our family is intertwined from the love and friendship of T and I. I know a friendship like this doesn’t come often. Just like “normal” families we argue and get over it but it goes deeper. We couldn’t imagine life without each other in it. We bitch to one another about what ever is happening on that day. We discuss holiday meals, decor, and drinks even though they’ll be at separate houses. We have traditions that will never be changed and passed down to our children. We’ll pass the torch together to our children when they take over the traditions. It’s sometimes hard to believe that we didn’t come from the same line.
We’re different but so much alike complimenting one another. One tradition we have that I hope will go on forever is we plan on what we’ll be making for gifts for Christmas. We usually make our list and find a creative craft (of course that would be good enough to sell in a boutique- we’re classy) and we make the crafts for all our family. We’ve made wreaths, baskets, blankets, candles, and the list goes on and on. We coordinate our favors for our holiday dinner table. When the kids were little we did lots of crafts with them and have lots of momentos filling our shelves and drawers.
I still love to make crafts with kids even though ours are grown so I borrow my nieces (from my sister who is my cousin) but her girls are like my second wave of daughters. I know, confusing but try to follow along! One of my nieces you know (Megan from Friday Fashion) is totally into fashion and Ally is all about the sparkle and bling. I recently was introduced to Blingerz which is a craft kids can do by blinging out their shoes. This is the perfect craft if you have a niece or daughter who is into high fashion such as Michael Kors. Yes Megan is obsessed- her presents just got very expensive!
Awwwww Love you and this post! It’s funny how a friendhship just turns into family forever. So much of my life is blended with yours now that I barely remember where some of the traditions began. We raised our kids together and you are right that that while they can’t follow a actually family tree line they just know we are all one. LOL That will never change. “Friends are the family we choose for ourselves”