On Families...

I come from a large family, three older brothers, two parents, dogs, cats, mice, myself and once even a pet chicken. Because of growing up in a house full of people, I have come to value my personal space, and like to have time to myself a good majority of the time. I guess this makes me "a bit of a loner" as referred to by a former professor recently.

However, if I am a loner, the other strange side effect of this, is that one tends to surround yourself by groups of friends which can also be determined as "families" Because they all share a common bond. Such examples are:

1) The Office family...Co-workers who you actually give a damn what happens to. I work in a small office and so I like to make sure everyone is doing ok.

2) The Grad School family...This is the group of people I went to Architecture school with. We still keep in touch. I assume this is very similar to people who have gone through a traumatic experience together will bond.

3) The Church Family...This is the group of singers and musicians I sing with. This one seems to change a lot.

4) The Childhood friends...This is about 3 or 4 people that I grew up with. Still see them at least once a week.

Now, the interesting thing about this is that these groups are entirely separate from each other. I sort of drift in and out of these groups at will. They have never crossed over. One of these days I will have a party and see if they can mix.

...I guess this makes me a family man...