"Losing family obliges us to find our family. Not always the family that is our blood... but the family that can become our blood.... and should we have the wisdom to open our door to this new family... we will find that the wishes we had for the father, who once guided us... for the brother, who once inspired us....The only thing left to say will be: 'I wish I had seen this, or I wish I had done that, or I wish...'"
The above quote and video come from the film Finding Forrester. I'll watch almost anything with James Bond in it (well except for the one where Pierce Brosnan runs around singing Abba songs; that's just going too far) and this was a decent one. Something not so different happened recently. I found family. Well, they were always there, but just a bit distant. With the help of some modern technological wonders, they have become a little closer. I never lost my family, I just merely had a hard time finding them. But now I have. And thank goodness I have. Because my life is infinitely richer as a result of it.
It is normal for us to live in our own little worlds, where everything fits in neat little silos: work, friends, family, personal life, random people in the lift. Typically, the contents of these silos are mutually exclusive; they don't cross paths easily. And most of us seem to like it that way. This doesn't always have to be the case.
I'm still trying to figure out who these people are and what makes them tick, but I think this is the beginning of something awesome, if I may use a Canadian word (I have it on good authority from an Irishman that awesome is a very Canadian word apparently). I have really cool cousins. Like insanely cool cousins who are quirky, brilliant and very good at picking on each other on Skype. I'm not much for counting my blessings in public, but if I am allowed this one chance, I'd like to do so.
Sadly, seeing them on a computer screen isn't quite the same as seeing them in real life. But that too shall be accomplished one of these days. Technology can only take you so far. Secretly, I've been planting seeds of thought in their mind (like in that Inception film) about how awesome Canada is and how the cold isn't really all that bad up here... in the hopes that one day, they all move up to Vancouver so we can go on some excellent adventures. Until then, I'll learn more about these people via Skype.
So if I may offer advice, it is this: reach out and touch the void as it were when it comes to people you know but don't really know. Because sometimes, you will blow your mind with the possibilities. And perhaps learn something new about yourself.
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