Friday, April 6, 2012

Day 303 ~ "F" is for Family

After having spent an evening coloring eggs, enjoying a delicious roast, great conversation and loving company, I would have to say that there is no doubt in my mind that my "F" word is Family.

I can not tell you enough how blessed I am to have married into such a wonderful  family!  Let me tell you, this is not ordinary  family, either.

My husband, Dean's parents divorced when he was a toddler and later remarried other people.  SOooo, I do not have one set of in-laws, but two.  Which meant that I basically had to be liked by both  families before Dean would marry me.  He made it perfectly clear that he could not marry someone that his  family did not like or approve of.  Not that he thought there would be a problem, that was how he felt.  The respect he has for his parents and love for his  family made me love him more.  Thank God I didn't know this before meeting them, because I would have not been myself!

What are the odds of marrying into one awesome  family, let alone two?  

Even with all my ghosts and skeletons, baggage, and quirks (lol, that word just makes me giggle)... they not only took me into their  family as their daughter-in-law, but made me a part of their  family... their daughter.

As shared with you in earlier posts, Dean's mother Sally became our guardian angel nearly seven years ago.  For the few years that I knew her, when I first dated Dean and early into our marriage, Sally was my best friend.  She was an amazing woman, who raised some pretty awesome people.  Her husband Bob, of over thirty-five years, just as awesome as she, is an awesome father-in-law.

Dean's father Ferris, is a wonderful father.  He is a true leader and provider of his  family.  I have never met a man so dedicated to his  family, as he is.  His wife Gene, is a humble, amazing Christian woman herself, as well as a wonderful role model.  They are my mom and dad, and I address them as such.  

Since moving to Texas, Deans parents have done nothing but help us get back on our feet.  They worry and care for their family, as a  family was meant to do.  They are also the best grandparents a little girl could ask for.  I love to sit back and watch them love up on each other.  There's a certain sparkle in their eyes.

Then there are Dean's siblings.. between his mother and father, he has four brothers and one sister.  Dean has an older half-brother from his mom (which his father adopted at a young age), as well as a younger step-brother (Bob's son from his first marriage) and a younger half-sister (17 years than younger Dean.  From his dad, he has two younger half-brothers (17 and 20 years younger than Dean).  

So now you know the players.  I broke it down for you so you could have a visual... however, in both of these respective  families (Dean's mother's and his father's,) the words "half" and "step" never uttered.  They are all brothers and sister, within their respective families.  With Sally, that was just as much her son as it was Bob's.  With Gene, Dean and his older brother are just as much her sons, as are her own biological sons.  I have never witnessed any labels of division used, such as "half" and "step." 

Each and everyone of my brother-in-laws and my sister-in-law are, for lack of a better description, wonderful, respectful, quality people!!  I have learned so much from every one of them!

I am so blessed to have married into such a united, loving Family.

He that raises a large family does, indeed, while he lives to observe them, stand a broader mark for sorrow; but then he stands a broader mark for pleasure too.   ~Benjamin Franklin
A happy family is but an earlier heaven.  ~George Bernard Shaw
A family is a little world created by love.  ~author unknown


Blogging A to Z Challenge April 2012... What will "G" have for us tomorrow?

Blessings to all!!


62 days to go...

... for a, l & c.  You are my sunshine(s).  

Images are courtesy of google or Bing images.  Some images maybe labeled property of Carla Barila Karam and of this blog, Taking Back My Life ~ Making It My Own.  U.S Copyright laws apply.  ©

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I like all of those ghosts, skeletons, baggage and quirks actually!

Anne @ Green Eggs and Moms said...

Very happy for you! It sounds like they're a very accommodating family. Let me tell you, there are some families that meddle too much in the affairs of members (I've seen this a few times it frightened me that grown men would literally follow the whims of their family - not that there's anything wrong with loving your family, but there must be boundaries).

Anyway, glad you have found a great set of people! That's so important.

Anonymous said...

Amen..Its a blessing to have a great family ans also be married into a great family. I am also blessed to have that!

Kims4Him said...

We all have our definition of "family". Sounds to me like you hit the jackpot!
Blessings to you and yours~

Ang said...

So true! And dear Ben Franklin oughtta know--he came from a large family!
Have a blessed Easter!

Shannon Lawrence said...

That sounds wonderful! How lovely to have such a good and loving family, especially double!

Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z

Anonymous said...

You are so lucky to have such a homogenous and peaceful relationship with you families. Really, that's such a rare thing. So often people spend the holidays drowning is family drama and squabbles - this is really refreshing!

ReviewsSheRote said...

what a wonderful family you have!!
Love the family quotes at the end of the post!!

Misadventures in Motherhood said...

Awww...wonderful! I have amazing in-laws too. They're just like second parents to me. And since my own parents are not Christian, my in-laws have sort of become my spiritual parents. It's wonderful to have such loving, kind people to call family!

I'm so happy for you! Too often we stumble through life missing the greatest blessings that are right in front of us. Kudos to you for publicly giving thanks for yours!

I'm stopping by (way late, I know) from the voiceBoks MTR (the one that ended on the 8th...yep, really late...), and I'm glad I did. You made me smile today!

Have a fabulous weekend Carla! Oh, and I have a hop running over at my blog this weekend. Pop over and link up if you get a chance or if you haven't already!

Smiles, Jenn @Misadventures in Motherhood

Unknown said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you ALL for your heartwarming comments. Believe I had to see the dark side of my own family to know how truly blessed I am today. Believe me this was not handed to me. ;) Or maybe so.. my mother in law told me once that God has given me two wonderful families to make up for the one I grew up with. I love that she told me that!!! Jenn, thank you so much for telling me about vB... it truly has changed my life!! I'm going to try See you this weekend on your hop.. try only because weekends are tough for me.. too many people around wanting to do things. Don't they know I have a blog to run? wink, wink.