Family

FAMILY

Like ebb and flow
People come and go
Some come often
Others forgotten
Among those
That visit frequently
Are the ones we call family

The joy that family brings
Doth cause the heart to sing
When love connects each heart
From a common kinship did we start

Exploring anew each connection
Less likely inclined to deflection
More solid bonds give new direction
Less worry given to rejection

Food, fun and laughter
From here to ever after
Joy spreading from one to another
Sister, cousin, mother and brother…

Truth be told
'Tis not just blood that binds
For what we find
Both young and old
Are the ones who cross
The threshold

Husband, wife
Or friend for life
are the ones we share
Our lives with care
Among them all we see
That they are also family
-Shiidon, August 2008

I was speaking with someone recently and mentioned that in my life I have found that being related and being family is two different things. There are people that are closer to me than many who are related to me. People who are married become family. My cousin Ramin is visiting here this week. His wife Brenda is as much a part of my family as her dear husband. One summer while visiting them, it was Brenda that remembered me with a birthday card and a fathers day card. I will never forget this love. I work with someone, Kamran, that is as much a brother to me as my own brothers. He is family. I also think about the phrase often used in my experience as a Bahá'í that describes us all as "one human family." If we truly treated each other as family, there would be a marked difference in this world and indeed, what war could exist, what strife could there be? It is not possible to have such horrors if we treat each other with the love that we find as family.