First off, I want to say sorry that this is late. I spent my weekend driving from California to Colorado. It has been a long and busy weekend.

This week I have been less productive but it was more by choice and lack of time. My twenty year old daughter, Jazzy came to visit us for a week and I decided to spend time with my kids instead of writing. Don’t get me wrong I wrote everyday she was here, but most days it was only a few pages. The week was fun and in some ways an experience. I wrote last week about the universe talking to you. Well this week the universe is still talking to me and I am listening even more. Mind you, I am wondering if I have misread the signs but I don’t think so. This week was an eye opener in terms of what I have accomplished in my life. Up until now I haven’t felt like I have accomplished much in my life. Getting a divorce is an accomplishment in many ways because I have been living in hell for far too long. I also have two college degrees and in some ways that is a small accomplishment. Outside of those things, I feel like I haven’t done much up until this point. My daughter coming to visit has shown me otherwise.

Let me explain. Jazzy is my adoptive daughter. I have not legally adopted her but in my heart and every other way I have. She was a kid that lived across the street from my mom and doesn’t have the best birth parents. When she was fourteen I began to call her my daughter. I try to encourage her, I try to make sure she knows how beautiful and special she is, and I always make sure she knows she has a home with me no matter where I live. I would move heaven and hell for her, just as I would for my own kids. What I realized while Jazzy was here is that my influence has rubbed off on her. I see it in the way she takes no bullshit from anyone, including her parents. I see her acts of kindness towards others and the fact that she tells me a lot more than she tells her birth parents. When she was younger we had fun together and I was an authority figure. I was the person that was always on her about her school work and how she behaved. We would go places like amusement parks or to get food or just hang out and watch movies. We always found a way to have fun on a kid level.

Now that she is an adult, our conversations are very different. Our conversations are open and honest and very adult. We get to do more adult stuff than kid stuff also. It is amazing to see how much the girl I knew has grown into an adult. I also saw how much my kids, I gave birth to, love her. They spent the week introducing her as their big sister. The pride that Jazzy felt was clear in the way she smiled and held her head up a little higher. It made my heart soar when she said she was thinking about having me adopt her legally. We are currently talking about it and the idea is under consideration from both of us. If we do go the legal route, I will let all of you know how it goes. We also will be doing adoption pictures because why not?

Here is what I learned from this past week. When you have the opportunity to adopt someone into your family do so. I have adopted two kids who I am extremely proud of. My daughter Mari is smart, beautiful, and takes no bullshit either. They both are loved by me just as I love my own two kids. I have also adopted one of my best friends as my sister. So now I have two nieces, which as someone who was raised as an only child, I thought I would never get to have someone call me aunt. For the record, I’m the fun aunt who puts on concerts for my six year old niece when she asks for them. I am the aunt that sugars them up and lets them run around screaming and being loud. I am also the aunt that pulls out the mom voice if they cross the line in terms of their attitudes.

Accomplishments happen in more than one form. If you can improve a kid's life do so. If you can make someone know what it’s like to feel like family do so. Those things change lives and not just for the other person but for you as well. My family is a hodgepodge of people. A few who are blood and a lot that I have adopted over the years. They say you can’t choose your family but I disagree. I believe you can choose your family and you should. You should surround yourself with people who love and support you. You should surround yourself with people that fit into the future you want. Until next time!