Not all of my family live in Canada. I have a sister in Oklahoma and a sister in Texas. We're not blood, we're stronger than that.
Gina from Oklahoma is of Italian descent. It shows. She's all about her familia and you don't mess with the boss' family, or she'll go all mafia on you.
Over 40 horses are her family, and I'm under the same umbrella!
Gayla is originally from Maine. How she ended up in Texas, I'll never understand. Years ago when I worked on her genealogy, I realized we were related after all, through common ancestors who colonized Quebec. Her mother, in fact is from Montreal.
I met Gayla by virtue of her son, Sebastian. For a few years, I had the pleasure of being his stepmom.
Gayla and I clicked from the start. She is the Saint of East Texas cats. I can't keep up with how many she has at home or the feral colonies she tends.
And thus is the trifecta sisterhood. I claim to be Protector of any living creature within my farm's 1200 acre borders. Don't mess with our horses, dogs, fish, gopher tortoises, raptors, luna moths, foxes, Hercules beetles, wild Louisiana irises...the list goes on.
Cut from the same cloth we three are.
Perhaps that is why it never struck me as odd to love my ex's ex as my true sister.
So, when my son from another mother, Sebastian, called to say he was taking his first long distance road trip and could he come see me... I flipped. YES!
Years it had been since I'd last been able to stay with them in Texas. Not a teenager, but a 6' tall, college grad pulled up to my house. Pictures are grand, but hugging the snot out of someone you love is a million times better.
A few days together is what we had and we maximized.
Damn my sister did a fantastic job raising him. If I do say so myself, he's perfect: funny, yet very serious, empathetic, caring, meticulous... his prized Thunderbird's engine looks like he cleaned it with Q-tips, knowledgeable and interesting (ask him anything about vintage watches and how they're made).
We stayed up until all hours of the night talking and studying.
Yes, how the tables have turned. It was my Business degree kiddo sitting with me for hours to help me with my homework. Life is strange, life is beautiful, and family is forever.
