Posts Tagged ‘family’
My family
I don’t often write in this space : usually I post pictures directly from my camera phone and then move on. I don’t even know if anyone reads this – and that is fine with me. This is something I do for myself and when work is slow or life is depressing I have something to look at that cheers me up.
Other people use the internet for p*rN and Kittens and laughing babies. I use it as a coping mechanism.
About 12 years ago I found a chat board from KYSR 98.7 fm in LA. through them there were chat boards “Drunkjack.com and Jamiewhite.com”. This is how I found Bonnie and Isabel,Mikey, Cami, Angela, Jack, Pearl, Veronica and more. Even Phaedra and Sam were on here. That’s when I discovered the therapeutic qualities of chatting with folks through the day and being able to read responses at my leisure.
The station changed format and ChatBoards are harder to find that have meaning now that the entire world is enraptured with FaceBook and we have Twitter for quick “shout outs”. But I have been blogging for 6.5 years and loving it. I started out with “Homeless in LA” and have ghost written a few others and then made this one for Darla so she can be seen by my family and also see herself grow up when she is older.
Not all of the photos are in focus. Not all of them are editorial and tell a story. They are just pictures of her, and me and her sisters and her family.
Family means a lot to me. I have had a couple of them in my life and I pick and choose who I want to publicly admit being related to ( I am terrible like that) .
So enjoy my family. I do. When I need a little extra love – like I did last weekend – I will drive 12 hours to get to my Grandma’s arms and back home again – because family is life.
Enjoy mine. I do.
Family
As Darla turns 1 year old, I get to think about what family means.
When I was a child, I was adopted by Lloyd and Judy Keith. Or, Daddy and Mrs Keith , as she was a teacher at Holly Avenue where I was a student of Rose Fox.
Family
My family of origin was comprised of 4 children, Shawna, Shane, Sonya and Scott. Our mother was Sheila and we had a variety of fathers from what I surmise. The 1960’s and 1970’s was an era of free love, drugs, and really ugly clothing. For my mother, it was a time to try to find herself, validate herself through relationships with men, and self medicate her problems with drugs and alcohol. Needless to say – this did not make her the best mother.
I always felt loved and wanted. I think that made all the difference in the world. I knew my biological mother loved me and when I was adopted into a swarm of Sible and Keith family members – it was with enthusiasm, love and an absolute welcome that is still there today. We are legion and I love them back.
Family is not just of blood and bone, it is made of life long commitment to never let you go through life alone.
Some of you have been my friends since before I had my current legal Keith family. You have been with me this whole time and are my family too.
Planning Darla’s first birthday party I get to see the RSVP list and see names that were here for Jackie’s arrival in the world, and names that were here from when I was a child.
I am working on defining what family means, who our family is and mostly – trying to find the time to thank you who have been so faithful to our bond this whole time.
So, here is “another silly question”, what does family mean to you, and what will you do to protect and preserve that bond?
Darla's Mom 