Once “Broken” - Now Just Different

All last year and definitely over the holidays I kept hearing stories of people and families who were "broken." Friends heartbroken over a relationship ending, or a partner struggling with depression, the loss of a parent or how our country feels so incredibly broken. It seemed like everywhere I turned this theme kept repeating. I can certainly attest to the broken family part (and the country part....). My mother was the absolute glue to our tiny family of four growing up and to her siblings and even to my dad's family. Without her our family still feels rudderless, especially around the holidays. The first holidays without our mom were so tough as of course we knew they would be. We felt so lost. Today, almost five years since she passed I look at our family with different eyes. I don't think we're broken, anymore. Losing our mom was the hardest part of my life, hands down and we were definitely broken. Now, I see our family as "different." Where we don't have relatives close by we have amazing friends who come together to make a new family. It doesn't make me miss my mom any less but it makes being able to be present and grateful so much easier.