Happy

I spent part of this evening going through old letters from friends and family.  There were letters from family members sent to me at summer camp, notes from ex-boyfriends, notes from old friends about ex-boyfriends, totally mundane little exchanges... but all of them had to be sent through the mail with handwriting and stamps, rather than simply texted without a moment's thought.  I admit, I ended up throwing away a lot of them - some were just too unremarkable, some were even from people who I can't even remember.  But they all made me think about the countless people I've bumped up against in my life, and the amazing little marks they've all left on me, whether I knew it or not.

So, with all these people in my past and present, and with so many upcoming changes coming down the pipe to my future... I got to thinking some more.  I don't know if I'm lucky or if I've worked hard or if some higher power is conspiring to give me warm fuzzies, but I do know that I am happy.  I have the most amazing, loving, weird, hilarious, fun family on the planet.  And this weekend, when I brought home the caring, supportive, nerdy, brilliant man who has (for one reason or another) agreed with me that we should go ahead and spend our lives together, this band of fantastic people to whom I am related welcomed him with open arms and inside jokes aplenty.  Brian and I are moving forward - taking big new steps in our lives, and we're doing it with the support and love of the people who mean the most to me in the world.  I have amazing brothers (and sister-in-law) with gigantic brains and hearts, delicious little nieces with smiles that light up the planet, parents who believe in me even when I forget how to do that for myself, and who provide a model every day of what a marriage is supposed to look like, aunts and uncles and cousins who are a huge part of who I am, even though I don't see them as often as I would like... and I have this Giant Ginger who said, "Hey... I'm on board for this crazy ride!  Let's do this!"

These last few days at home have been a huge gift.  And I just hope that I can hold onto this feeling on those days when I'm feeling down or grouchy or defeated or lonely or a little less than upbeat.  Because this family I get to be a part of...(and the AWESOME wine and whisky that tends to go with it) has got to be about as good as it gets.

I'm being uncharacteristically mooshy right now... but hey... I'm surrounded by the love of amazing people.  I think a little mooshy is fully justified.