“All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” (Helen Keller)

This is a quote that I could write about for hours, and fill page after page. I could write about all the things in my life for which I have passion, and talk about how they are ingrained in me. But, today only one thing matters enough to write about…family. I am a truly blessed person. I have been blessed with an amazing wife, and four loving, caring children. When I think about this quote and what it means to me, they come to mind first and foremost.

They are truly a part of me. When they are happy, my heart leaps for joy. When they are hurting, I hurt. When they are sad, I cry too. When they are victorious, my chest swells with pride right along with them. They are truly, and deeply a part of me.

What is great about this quote also is that it applies to them as well. I see it in each of them. I watch as one of them consoles another in times of trouble, as well as how they celebrate together.

When I think of my family as being a part of me, it isn’t that they are tucked away in some compartment of my being. They are a part of me as a whole. And because they are a part of me as a whole, they influence and change who I am. I can look back over these past thirty years and see that so much of who I am has changed and evolved, and I know that so much of that is because of living, growing and loving with my family.

I know that my heart is softer and kinder because my wife is such a kind and warm person. I know that my sense of humor is influenced and shaped by my children. I know that my passions have grown and blossomed as theirs have. I can see that every part of me is, in some way, changed by each of the five people that I have lived and grown with.

Today I am humbled by how profoundly my family is a part of me, and I of them.