Yesterday, I spent my birthday at my parents' lake cottage basking in the gentle Michigan sunshine and wrapped in the love of my people. Laughter flows when we're together. I've witnessed many a family where conflict is a monster stomping about the room so I'm grateful for the peace in my tribe. We simply get each other; that alone is a gift.

Our ties to each other have little to do with blood or proximity, and everything to do with our willingness to open our lives to each other.