You never really know what is going to happen when you visit family during the holidays. Living far away from loved ones creates a distance, an unfamiliarity that can lead to moments of unknowing in conversations and mannerisms. However, there are ties that bind so strong at times that they can teach you something familiar and comfortable about how and why God placed us in families.

I met my baby cousin this past Thanksgiving for the first time. This was a big deal to me because my first cousins are more like siblings than what most folks consider “cousins”. We share a lot of the same wiring as one another. Even though we weren’t raised right next to each other, we “get” each other with great ease.

I talked with this precious 15-year old and you couldn’t tell us we haven’t spent summers and Christmases past together. We just fit.

For that, I am thankful.

It was also a blessing to see how happy this visit made my grandma. She loves to see her family and know that we are gathering together.

For that, I am grateful.

My family is my core. I am theirs and they are mine no matter what and I have missed this physical time with them tremendously. As I get older, I am beginning to better understand that a big part of my role within my very large family is to be a connector. For while we are blessed to share a supernatural connection to one another, that gift has to be honored and tended and exercised so that it can continue into the generations of our children, our children’s children and so on and so forth until the end of our line.

For that, I am hopeful.

Marta C. Youngblood is a writer, education and social entrepreneur based in Lubbock, Texas. For more information on her current projects visit https://about.me/MCyoungblood.