Little Guy,
This post is being combined for Saturday and Sunday quite simply because we were at the Stephenson reunion on Saturday. This one is a little special since this is the first time in many many years that your Grandpa Stephenson has been with all his siblings at one time. Due to people living all over they do not get together, or see everyone that often. This is also the 1st reunion that we have had the camper and as such its a new and different experience for me. It is part tent, part clubhouse, part home but definitely neat. We are finding out now what things make you jump around. The other day we found out you like orange juice and this morning after breakfast, with all the sugar we found out that the sweetness makes you dance around. It is neat.
Family matters.
Sometimes Family seems like people you may not know well. We don't always spend a lot of time with them but family is important. Friends will stand by you through thick and thin, some of them will always be a part of your life even when you have not seen them for years, but Family will always be there. Your great Grandma Hinckley was always big on that. I am sorry you did not get to meet her. She was a neat lady and though she did not always agree with us on things, in the end she supported us even if she did not agree because we were family. She always said that you don't divorce family, and at her funeral several of the Ex wives of the Hinckley men were there. You don't divorce family little man. People may come and go into your life but Family is always there, and should be, at least I think so. I do not agree with all my family all the time, but they are family and family is important.
You do not get to pick who you are related to, even if sometimes you wish you could choose not to be related to that cousin, or uncle, or something. Eventually, you get to pick the person you are married to and their family. I have a little advise when it comes to that. You may not love all of your in laws, and that makes a difference, but love the person you are married to and it will work alright. That family is a part of the person you marry. The helped mold and shape them, helped make them the person they are, and if you are lucky, they will take you in as part of the family as well. Family matters. I may not be a Stephenson, but they have brought me in as a part of the family and that is something that is really neat.
You may have friends who are that way. You will have aunts and uncles who you are not related to by blood, but as far as anything goes, they are family. The truth is in all of that, it is different. Do not judge that to be less important, after a time, some people you have known for long enough are as near as family, but blood is different. It may not be a part of my personal faith, but I agree that no matter where you go, the people you grow up with will mold and shape the person you become in ways you may never comprehend. Family is important son, and I am so excited to have you be a part of ours.
-Dad
