A Family of Sorts

What is it about the family unit that everyone strives to have?  I live in a society that is filled with a myriad of family types, too many to name.  It seems that every person longs for a connection with others, a common something that we can share.  Even when we do have a family, we long to reach out and become a part of a different family; we long to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

For a while now, I've been a part of a gaming community, Pet Society.  Within that community is a group of people with whom I trade on the Pet Society Trading Post.  We trade for beds, food, wallpaper, clothing, basically anything and everything to decorate our pets' houses.  I first got started with the group shortly after my youngest daughter was born.  It kept me busy on those long nights when I was up feeding her, but it grew into something more.

I started to get to know some of these people.  It started out with a group of other ladies that were night owls in similar positions as I.  Then I realized there were others on the group who were all around the globe.  Now I know people from across the USA, Canada, Philippines, Denmark, Switzerland, Japan, China, Sri Lanka, England, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Australia, to name a few.  We all have two major things in common:  we love playing this game, and we love being a part of the pet society family.

Now that my daughter is older and no longer keeping me up at odd hours, I am not on it as often as I used to be, but I still keep in touch with the gang, including one of the founders, Michael.  You may recognize him as the one who told me to duct tape my children.  Obviously he does not have children of his own, but he does have a family of sorts with this group, which he protects with every thing he has, and with his whole heart.

There's also another friend of mine, Danielle, who has formed a wishing group, the World Of Wishing Pet Society Group, for us.  Dani's goal is to have a family that helps one another out by just granting wishes for pet owners.  We have newbie prizes, poor pet prizes, give away threads, and such.  There are no strings for the most part, except for the wish list alone, which is made effective by use of the Golden Rule.  We grant a single wish and make four more to be granted by others.  She's learned the true joy is in giving, and give she does! 

These may seem like odd examples of families, but we do watch out for one another.  We try to watch out for each other, we talk with another, cry with one another, lean on each other, and laugh together.  If one is suffering, we send out our condolences or lift up prayers for them.  If they are happy, we join in the jokes, but to each others' enjoyment, and not at their expense.  We stick up for one another and surround each other with love.  There is the family commeraderie....I even have a few calling me "Mama."

It started out as just a game, but it has become much more.  Because now I have a global family that I never would have known were it not for these two groups.  It is a family who truly cares for one another and looks past our faults and failures to look for the best in all of us.  We all want to be part of something bigger, and we are.  We have discovered that our family works, with all our idiosyncrasies, and with all of our strengths and weaknesses.  It's because we long for it; we crave to belong to a family who accepts us for who we are.  After all, when you come down to it, we all go way back, back to the beginning.  And we actually get a chance to meet some of our "relatives" and realize that we DO belong to something bigger than ourselves; we are all part of the family of the human race.