.
chosen family
when real isn’t really there
family love binds
.
family binds souls
who holds me close in their heart
is my family
.
“Mom” calls me “daughter”
tho she’s fourteen years older
my gray hair, so what !
.
soulful family
thicker is than blood it seems
soul brothers, sisters
.
Baby of group, I am
me and chosen family
all on Medicare !
.
++++++++++++++++++++
.
There are those I call my chosen family that are
much younger than I am ~ the ones I write about
here are my art group in particular today. One
of the group joked, for so long that I seem like I am
one of her daughters, I call her “Mom”, she calls
me “daughter”.
My children and grand-children all are my family
but live far away.
.
.
siggiofmaine 
Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife
Family is whatever we make it. I’m glad you have chosen family nearby.
r2a2r2j258
Love your poem by the way.
r2a2r2j258
I’ve heard this before….friends are the family you choose.
Joanne Moceri-Taveira
Chosen family members are often nicer to have than the real deal…..as we all know, you can’t pick your relatives!
WabiSabi
Wonderful!! I love the idea of creating ‘chosen’ families among neighbors, friends, in church and at work! Bravo!
siggiofmaine
WabiSabi,
when I started with the idea, it was thought of as unusual by outsiders, but the first 10 or so people from church accepted without question. The other family groupings happened as the years went on. Like minds, souls, a mixed bag, if you will, of personalities, backgrounds and education. Young children to PhDs, all without egos. In retrospect, a fascinating turn of events.
Thank you for our comment.
tara tyler
staying young at heart! great haiku set!
siggiofmaine
tara tyler
Thank you for your nice comment. Appreciate it.
Daydreamertoo
You can never have enough family… no matter who they are. We choose them or, they choose us and, it works, this was a lovely read. … thanks for the smile 🙂
siggiofmaine
DDToo,
Thank you for your comment…large families, have fascinated me…an “only child” with an “only brother”…long story, short form…six years apart, I moved away, and we, as adults lived on opposite coasts…Seattle, WA and near Bar Harbor, Maine.
Appreciate your comment … ☺
lessandragr
I had to chuckle at your last haiku – I can really identify with that one! And I’ve also found that my “family” has grown immensely in the last ten years – through my art groups, church group and P.E.O. group. Before that I was sort of a loner with only a few close friends. My mother had this same pattern in her life – makes you wonder. Have a wonderful Christmas!
siggiofmaine
lessandragr
My mother was a loner with one best friend, and when we moved away, my mother isolated except for eventually becoming friends with the next door neighbor. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas.
becca givens
I often believe our “chosen” family on earth — are closer to us than our biological family! I am glad you have that in your art group. 😉
siggiofmaine
Becca,
My “chosen family started in around 1990 or a little before when was standing at the back of the church waiting to proceed up front as a LEM that day and I realized that there were members of the church … I’d started going there in 1971… that were more accepting and caring of me than my own family. I decided on the spot to, after church, ask specific people to be part of my chosen family, and then a few have been added since then.
.
There families became my family, they included my children without asking. Now, there is a large extended family as the children got married and had grand-children. I also realize that I have a nursing family …. employees and student CNAs…that after I retired, and no longer THE Boss, are kindred spirits and we stay in contact, my Nursing class group, this year reconnected, my best friend from grade school/jr high reconnected. Facebook and music friends…the list is has grown. That s why I just did the “painting” group as a singular group ( …after 16 plus years,…some members over 30..I joined in 1996… we’ve been thru a lot ).
Thank you for your comment…
Peace
Rachael
I agree! I think those you choose are just as, if not more, important as those you are given, since you have the choice to call them family.