Friends Who Become Family

Over the last year and a half I have had the occasion to come to value many people in my life. When my husband lay at death's door the people who came to the hospital almost every day became family. Those who drove a day's journey to support my husband and me, became family. So this blog is a tribute to those individuals.

There are many in life who feel they are alone. They have no parents or siblings and feel as if life has gone on, leaving them with the ghosts of the past. This doesn't have to be.

Debb. A truly amazing woman who has become a dear friend and sister. She is a woman of tremendous charity, love, kindness, loyalty, righteousness and humor. She has two boys, both basketball players, to whom she gives her attention, love and support. She is one of the best mothers, daughters, sisters and women I know. She and her sons have been family in every meaning of the word.

Scott and Lori: These two came into our lives many years ago. Through the course of time they have become a brother and sister of our hearts. When Alvin was in the hospital, they came every night and stayed until I was ready to leave. Because we lived in the same neighborhood, I would follow them home, my eyes glued to their taillights, so that I arrived home in one piece. They have loved us, befriended us and truly become family in our minds and hearts.

Merrill. Regardless of how busy his life is, and it is very busy, he takes the time to text or call on a near daily basis to remind my husband and me how very much we are loved. He keeps us in his prayers and thoughts. He is a wonderful, husband, father, brother and friend. He has become a brother to us, although I have five wonderful brothers of my own.

Marie. One of my friends is a very busy woman. With eight children of her own, a busy career and a life driven by chaos, she still takes the time to call, text or drop by to check up things. A lone woman in a family of brothers, we call ourselves "sisters of the heart." Is there really anything more precious than a friend who has become a sister?

Robert. Oh, a very, very busy man with his job and family. But when Alvin was in the hospital he came every single day for six weeks. He made us laugh. He made us feel protected and he made us feel loved. He is a brother of the heart to my husband and therefore to me as well. We go back to our college days and it is a friendship I treasure on a daily basis.

Martin. This man is also very, very busy. He is my husband's cousin, but like the others, carved time out of a very busy schedule and came to the hospital every day. He would stay late into the night having gospel conversations with me as my husband lay in a drug induced coma. When Alvin was awake, he made him laugh. Martin has become a brother to us as well, and one that is very treasured.

Jack and Linda. Linda and I met in high school. I helped her learn more about the gospel the Osmonds introduced her to. Over the years, we became best friends who kept in touch through the highs and lows of life. When she married Jack, he too became family. They drove from North Dakota to be with us in ICU when Alvin's life hung in the balance. They have continued to love us and support us through the years and we could not treasure them more than if they were indeed family by blood.

There are so many more people in our lives that if we but look at them, we realize they have become family in every sense of the word but blood. We are blessed so richly by these people and countless more. This blog would go on forever and forever if I were to try and list them all.

Reach out to those around you, be grateful for them in your lives and try to give to them as much as they give to you. The Lord always compensates for what we mess, if we will only open our eyes and see. For the greatest of friends become brothers and sisters of the heart.