Blood

Sounds scary, doesn’t it? I am not out to kill anyone. So no, this is not about murder or mayhem—just yet. I might write that blog in the future. And who knows who it might be about?

This one is about family. You have all heard the saying that you have a blood family then your chosen family. I have felt this more than once in my life and lot of it has to do with the old Dark Hunter website and the Righteous Perverts.

A few of you know a bit about my family. It is a vast group of crazy. I am one of eleven children, raised by a single parent. My Momma was married three times. She was never ashamed of it. Her first husband thought it would okay to hit her and the cast iron frying pan told him differently.

Yes, my Momma was that woman. She grew up with mostly women. There seemed to only be one man in her life and that was a great uncle who came here from Germany. My grandfather died before my Momma was born and my grandmother eventually married but my Momma was already 10, but she was much older in life experience. She had worked in the fields from the time she could walk and stay out of trouble. Her stepfather really didn’t have much to do with her at all. He spent most of his time with his friends but managed to get my grandmother pregnant four more times before he died in his 40's.

My Momma’s second husband was a wonderful man till he fell in love with booze. He ended up dying in a motorcycle accident. At that point, my Momma was 26 and had four kids. She met my father and proceeded to have 7 more kids. I guess he liked making them but not so much as caring for them. So he left. I didn’t see him again till I was 15. I was fine with that.

I think because my Momma had to work several jobs to support the family, she missed a lot of us growing up. We ended up being the kids that no one messed with because she taught us to be self-sufficient. When other kids ran home to their parents, we figured out how to take care of each other and ourselves. We are all very strong willed and fight like cats and dogs. I mean we would get into some real fights like blood squirting fights. It always started out with words, but it soon escalated into the physical. I know this is a really bad thing but, as kids, it was how you got your point across in my neighborhood. We have all kind of drifted apart to a degree but we know that if we called, everyone would come running to help. Now you see why I want a separate family that doesn't make me totally crazy, too.

To me family comes in many shapes and sizes—kind of like fruit. Separately we are all great but when you mix us together, sometimes you get the most amazing flavors. Add whipped topping and HEAVEN. I feel this way about the people who I consider family. A lot of these people are the ones I have met online—first on the Dark-Hunter bbs and then in Righteous Perverts. These are some of the most understanding and accepting people I have ever met or, in some cases, never physically met. They have been there for me through a few of the toughest things to have happened in my life. I will never forget the way some of them were there for me when my Momma passed away.

When my family gets together, there is usually some sort of conflict. I knew that I could go to the bbs and my friends would find a way to make me laugh, take my mind off of my life for a minute or just give me a place to vent. These are the things that make strangers into family. Friends become family when you can rely on them, when they'll hug you when you need it or kick you in the ass when you are being stupid.

My online family are the ones who encourage me to step out of my safe little box and try new things. If I didn’t have them, I would have stayed safe in my little world and never have flown for the first time. I never would have went to AAD and met Kris, Melissa and so many other amazing people. There sure was no way in hell I would have driven hours to meet Sherrilyn Kenyon without the encouragement of my friends. I wouldn’t be writing this blog if Luna and Mia hadn’t told me that I could do it. These are the important things in life—finding your family, the people who accept you for who you are and are never disappointed in you as long as you tried your hardest to succeed.

How did you find your chosen family? Was it at school growing up, at work or like me on the internet?

Sinfully Sarcastic,
Shmuttmeister