Gratitude Sunday!

Hello, blogworld.

I haven't posted in entirely too long, and I apologize for that. Now, usually, when I don't post, it's because I'm forgetful, or just having a rare, lazy day. Not so, this time!

The origins of the Wren's Daughter:

While I was born a few states over, I spent most of my formative years in various parts of Knox County, Tennessee. I had a very eventful, communal upbringing, for which I am eternally grateful. Before the family moved to New York, there was hardly a day that we didn't have someone coming over for dinner, and normally, it was more like 5 or 6 someones.

Weekends were for bonfires, which we lit on the driveway, out in the country, under the huge maple trees. I grew up around that fire, grew up around people from all different walks of life. Looking back, it's so fascinating to realize the group of people that came together in our little dairy-barn-turned-house were, on the surface, so vastly different, but in truth, not all that different at all.

I have two biological siblings, and I love them dearly, but I also have countless "adopted" big sisters and brothers that I love just as much, and on the 5th of this month, a group of them came to Virginia to visit.

It was so very good to be sitting around the fire again with the people who helped raise me, and seeing very clearly the parts of me I know came from them. Odd, in some respects, as the last time I spent time with some of them, I was still a little bird, and now, they have a little bird of their own. I watched myself go from little sister to big sister that weekend, and was reminded that things really do come full circle if you wait long enough.

This Sunday, I'm so grateful to have had the chance to see Ally, Matt, Kate and Shelly, and the chance to meet Annie (who, by the way, is officially adopted, says me!). It was a crazy whirlwind of a weekend, in which I drank probably more than I should have, spent more than I should have, and enjoyed my siblings' company even more than I thought possible! (How odd is it that now I get to drink with them?)

I miss them all terribly, but I know it won't be long before I see them again!