New Family Traditions

This weekend was spent with my best friend from college - who is about to become my brother-in-law. I was also hanging out with my new friend Jon - who is about to become my stepson. All this quality bonding time got me thinking about family in all the forms it takes. While last summer I lost my dad, I've just managed, in the last nine months to have gained a husband, a child, a brother and of course, all the in-laws I can possibly want! (6 children on one side of the family alone.)
When I was a kid I'd always walk by big families picnicking in the parks of Phoenix - twenty kids yellin' and running through the sprinklers, parents subtely sipping on spiked Cactus Coolers and I'd feel kinda sad. My nuclear family was only 4, everyone else lived all the way out in North Carolina.
Now I realize that family can be more universal. I can choose my family - or they can choose me and we can all proverbially picnic in the park together. It's a great feeling, and one that I definetely wanted to share.