365- A Kidnapped Sister

20. A Kidnapped Sister

   This picture was taken on Anna Maria Island just last month. That's my little sister Cady and my "Uncle" Tim, Tim Gardner lives in Maine with his wonderful family, Aunt Carre, his wife and their 3 kids, Sarah, Miles and Mark. They used to be missionaries with us in Krasnodar, but couldn't get visas so they had to move back too Maine, Uncle Tim is a police officer there and Aunt Carre a nurse. After spending Thanksgiving with them up in Maine, we all carpooled down to Florida. One of the best vacations EVER. So glad Dad and Uncle Tim could put it together,

   Speaking of uncles, I have a LOT of Uncles, all of us MK's do. Basically any other American man above the age of 30 is going to be called your uncle, when you live on the other side of the planet in some foreign land away from any of your real uncles. So in addition to that, I have a lot of aunts too. And I think this is really cool, I like the way that my friends parents, will take me on as a niece. We're all in the same boat here; they know what it’s like to be away from home, away from all their relatives. And instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they make a new extended family. The MK community over there in Kdar, is just as much my family as the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins I have here. I am just as close to them, if not more. There's something about being stuck in Russia thinking a cloud of nuclear gases is coming your way that bonds people. But what do I know, maybe that’s not it, maybe it’s the staying in each other’s houses for months at a time while searching for your own house to rent. Once we had my family, 6 people (Sam wasn’t born) the Broberg family, 6 people, and a team of 4 Chi Alpha guys all staying in our house. Yup, 16 people, and this was for a good 2 weeks or so. You learn things you never really needed to know about a friend when you’re stuck living in their house for an extended amount of time, haha. It really is just like family, we’ve all seen each other in our worst, and our best.

I love my extended family.

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