It’s early in the morning and I’m the only one awake in my mom’s place. I’m lying on the couch fighting fatigue, while my dog, haven given in long ago, lies at my feet. The apartment is packed with people sleeping comforted by family an arms reach away. It’s a good feeling. It’s strange.

Family isn’t always what we want it to be. Christmas time was always a season when I longed for that movie-perfect Christmas experience, but the differences between my parents (pre- and post- divorce), my mom and half-sisters, myself and my father, all created a very unwelcoming environment during the holidays, to say the least. I usually ended up spending as little time as possible at home.

After I left for college things started to change. Rather, we made them change. I bridged the gap between my sisters and my mom, and they discovered that they really liked each other after all. From there we joined with my brother-in-law and his parents, then reached out to extended family. I’d always made my friends my family, bringing them into my life and celebrating holidays with them. Now I was making my actual family my family.

As we were eating Christmas dinner last year, my sister said how happy she was that we were really being a family for the first time. I don’t think that really hit me until just now, because this year it isn’t something new anymore. It’s something better. It simply is.

My mom and uncle picked me up from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston early Friday morning, and not twelve hours later we were seated at Pappasito’s with the family eagerly awaiting a feast of Tex-Mex and margaritas. Oh, how I missed the delicious taste of fajita’s! We ate and drank all afternoon and then transitioned to a pool party at my sister Michelle’s house. I couldn’t have asked for a better homecoming: my loving family and the Texas staples of Tex-Mex, good drinks, and swimming. Perfect!

The rest of the weekend was entirely consumed by spending time with the family and visiting friends. Saturday night I went out and didn’t return till the next morning, only to jump in the shower and head to Austin. I would have liked to spend more time with everyone, but summer school would be starting bright and early Monday morning–and I had someone to see before then.

Two days later was July 15, aka the day of my birth. I gathered up a few friends for an impromptu dinner and we took over the PF Chang’s in downtown Austin. I had such a great time! The food was amazing and we ordered limousine style, which means that all at the table told the waiter their preferences and then he ordered a variety of entrees and all the dishes were passed around the table. That way you get to try four, five or six different dishes, instead of just one. Everyone had a great time, laughing and sharing stories from our time apart.

Both occasions reaffirmed something that I had let pass from my mind: my life is incredibly blessed. I have a wonderful family that loves and supports me, a family that has persevered and formed bonds that transcend the traditional definition of family and draw us even closer. I have amazing friends who bring joy and substance to my life, who have stood by my side when I needed them most. I have found someone who truly excites and challenges me, someone who gives me butterflies every time I see her. Even my academic and entrepreneurial endeavors seem to always find a way of succeeding. Daily I am awed by the good fortune and love I receive. I already live a prodigious life, but I also know that there is even more to be gained, more to accomplish, more love to spread. Who knows what wonders the future holds?!

It’s good to be back in Texas.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau