Marrying the family

I will never forget the first time I sat down to have a meal with the entire Gauthier family. It was loud. There were a million different conversations going at once. There was more laughter in one room than can be found at a comedy show. Also, the room was shaking..because nearly every one of them bounces their knee.

At first, I was overwhelmed. I hadn't been part of a large family since my childhood...and that was nothing like what I was experiencing. The sheer volume of the group was over stimulating. I didn't know who's conversation to pay attention to. I felt like a silent spectator at a movie.

A wonderful, loving movie.

Long before I married Kendrick, I knew that I wanted to marry his family at the same time. In the time before we got married I had come to love this family like they had always been mine and they treated me like I had always been theirs.

Don't get me wrong. Our family is no different than any other family. We are quirky and not without faults. But, the fact is.. I wouldn't change any of it. I have created more memorable moments in the years I have known them, than I had in the whole of my life before them.

I not only gained a mother and father, but a sister and brothers. Family that didn't act like I was an outsider..they celebrated me! They've cried with me, laughed with me, held me, and taught me that unconditional love is a very real thing. More so, they taught me that I was deserving of it.

Mom: Thank you for always listening and giving advice in your gentle, knowing way. Thank you for never expecting me to treat Kendrick any other way than how I treat him. And thanks for raising him (and all your children) in a way that has made him so caring and thoughtful.

Dad: Thank you for always putting your family first and teaching us that in all things, we have each other. Thanks for teaching me how to act like a kid again, that it's ok to be silly and ridiculous.

Katherine: You and I were meant to be sisters. Sometimes I feel as though I have known you all of my life. You were the sister born of my heart. Thank you for giving me that. Thank you for giving me my beautiful God daughter... I will never forget the day she was born and the moments we shared. I can't begin to explain in words just what you mean to me.

Matthew: Thanks for the moments between us that have made me laugh more times than I can count. Thanks for the knowledge that you always have my back.

Chris: Thank you for your heart. You are kind and empathetic to those who need it most. Such a wonderful trait and one that inspires me.

Also, mom and dad... thanks for cleaning the puke off me when I had heat stroke and projectile vomited all over myself and the car. (You guys know I had to end this on a funny note)

Seriously...I was a stinky mess.