My Family Tree is Gnarly

You’d Have a Hard Time Deciphering It

Photo by K Adams on Unsplash

I posted an article earlier in the week about traditional family values and how they are overrated, complete with Angel message. It made me think about my own family and how untraditional it is. You know those really neat, pretty family trees you see in books and ancestry sites? They’re symmetrical, quick to follow, and easy to understand. That in no way describes my family tree.

My grandfather had two families. There were a few divorces in my dad’s generation, but I don’t recall any second families there. Then, there is my generation. Some of us divorced and either stayed single or remarried. In my case alone, I married, divorced, remarried, and was widowed.

I gave birth to two children, but I ended up with a couple more I adopted, not legally, but with my heart. The daughter of my heart lost her mother in a motorcycle accident when she was only fifteen. She was one of my daughter’s (the one I gave birth to) best friends, and she lived with us until she finished college. She has a step-daughter and a new baby daughter, both of which I consider my granddaughters. I don’t think there’s a place for them on a typical family tree that’s all neat and tidy.

My late sister’s son, my nephew, and his wife are expecting a baby next month, and they’ve asked me to be the…