Family Values at the Holidays.. Anna Blake, fellow writer and horsewoman extraordinaire, shares a glimpse into her non horse life, with a family that is not nearly as in tune with her as she deserves. For that matter as we all deserve. We don’t expect our families to share our passions but we would certainly like it if they tried to understand.
I’ve been fortunate, with a family liking animals though not all as intensely animal oriented as I became, and I’ve no doubt they have spent a lot of time over coffee or beer sharing Monica stories and shaking their heads. But even when they don’t “get” my obsessions about dogs, especially these silly skinny running fools, they do get that the dogs matter to me. And also that more than once the dogs have helped me hold onto my sanity, or whatever is left of it.
My Family, a few years back!
We have our birth families, and those families we’ve made for ourselves. Often the second set is far closer to us but once in a while if we’re really really lucky, the same people are in both families. I feel exceptionally blessed since I gained a huge new subset of family when Tom and I married, and they remain in my extended family set.
As much as we bemoan the Internet for how it seems to depersonalize relationships, most of us have met new people with whom we’ve clicked through that time sucking medium, and are the better for it. As we head into a new year with potentially frightening possibilities, we know our families, whether close enough to touch, or only a keyboard away, will be with us on this journey, as we will be with them.
Some of my Saluki family
Mona Karel Author 