Your Life Tribe

 "We cannot choose the original family we are born into, but we can choose the 'life tribe' we create."  ~ Terri Cole


    I found this quote on my facebook feed today and it really struck me as a very true statement.  We all are born into a family weather we like it or not.  If we are lucky our family is our "life tribe."  Sometimes our family turns out to be not quite what we need so we begin to bring in others who we deem worthy of membership in our "life tribe."  Before long we look around and find that our "life tribe" is made up with precious people who know us inside and out, who love us in spite of our faults, and with who we can truly be ourselves.  What a gift that is.  I live far away from my biological family.  I have many, many happy memories of my childhood.  Family dinners at my grandmother's house, Christmases spent together, birthdays celebrated, back yard bar-b-ques and even a vacation or two to places like Disney World. 
     Since I moved to the West Coast I have begun to build my "life tribe" right alongside of my little family.  I have friends from back home who are just as much a part of that tribe as if they were living right next door.  We keep up through facebook and our friendships are still very strong.  I have friends that I have known since my daughter came into my life through adoption.  We waited, we boiled water and we celebrated each little girl that came to the US from her home in China.  There are some members that I have worked with over the last 11 years in the operating room, and who still remain close to me, even though I have transitioned to a new position.  Then there are some new friends.  Our friendship is still young, but I feel like I have known these folks forever.  To me that is a good sign.  That tells me, that along with all the others, they are a precious gift from God.   My tribe, to me, looks like a beautiful tapestry.  There are old threads and new threads.  Threads that are bright and some that are a little frayed, but all together, they make up a wonderful work of art.  Of course, my immediate family forms the frame that holds the tapestry of my life all together. 
    I hope everyone reading has the chance to look around them and see who makes up their "life tribe."  I know mine is an amazing sight, and I feel very lucky every time I look at it.