Punchy Protagonist

I am not sure if I am more hyper-aware of sayings and quotes about grief due to recent events, or maybe social media really has gotten to the point of mind reading, which I've honestly suspected. Either way, consciously or unconsciously, more of them have been popping up lately. "I've been reading that the brain is like a muscle. It's why getting over a death is so hard, because your brain has been trained to feel things for a person, and when they go away, your head is still operating under the impression that it should feel those things for that person, like muscle memory." -Dan Levy, Good Grief "Grief doesn't want attention. Grief is a hand on your chest. A hand no one can see." -- Steven Dietz , This Random World "And why does nothing change? Why does the vending machine keep working? Why do the phones still ring? Shouldn’t something be different?" -Steven Dietz, This Random World "What is grief, if not love persevering." -Vi...

There have been some recent events that have made me think more about family. Not just the word, but the meaning and the concept. There are a few dictionary definitions when it comes to the term "family."   a group of persons of common ancestry a people or group of peoples regarded as deriving from a common stock But, at least to me, family is more than what any dictionary can define. Family is the people that are there for you when it counts. They are the ones that laugh with you until you hurt and hug you harder when you are hurting. The ones that you would come running for in a heartbeat and you know they would do the same for you. The ones that check on you--care about you--accept and appreciate you for who you are. And sometimes the reality of the situation is that those people may not be blood relation. They may not be relation at all.  The reality is that sometimes those that should live up to my description, sadly, do not. In my 33 years on this Earth I have reali...