At what point does a family friend become just family?
Maybe it’s when they have kids the same age as you and everyone’s part of the swirl of young families on a tiny little suburban street, the kids running in and out of everyone’s homes while the parents spend time together doing whatever it is that parents did in the 60s and 70s while their kids ran around.
Maybe it’s when you move away and then they move two doors down and it’s like nobody missed a beat.
Maybe it’s all the Christmases that they would drop over – Christmas Day being a rather low-key event for us, with family and friends often hanging out in the living room, sharing the day.
Maybe it’s when they are there for you, day in and day out, in good times and bad. Like when they basically adopt your mom and make sure she’s okay after your dad passes away. Like that.
Maybe it’s all those things and more.
When my family moved out of the city and into the suburbs in 1967, Mrs. Watts and her family were across the street.
And they’ve been part of our family ever since.
Mrs. Watts passed away last night, and the world is poorer for it. I will celebrate her life and mourn her passing. If you have a moment, spare a thought for a good person who made the world a far more interesting and colorful place than it had any right to be.
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6 comments:
I'm so sorry, David. Peace to you and yours, and I'll raise a glass to all the family friends out there that make our lives richer through their presence, kindness, and love.
David,
On behalf of Eileen and the whole family, thank you for a wonderful tribute to an amazing woman. And as Eileen points out, yours is a friendship that has lasted 50 years.
I joined the family 31+ years ago, and your parents, your uncle and aunt, and you and Keith and everyone else in your family treated me like family, which was so welcoming, after being part of a dysfunctional family. Thank God we can choose friends, who often demonstrate better the meaning of family than family does.
Dan
Sue & I wish you & all of your family all the comfort this Universe can send your way.
There are no words, but my ear is always available.
Lucy
Thank you all - it means a lot. She was, as Dan points out, an amazing woman in many ways - not least of which was that she could be incredibly funny, which I always appreciated. Comfort and a raised glass will be welcome today.
Dan, thank you especially for that. Family is who we choose to make it with, and I am glad we are all together as one that way.
How fortunate you were to find more family right across the street. I'm sorry for your loss.
Thanks, Jamie. I appreciate it.
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