Mark Frost wrote “We have two families in life. One we were born into that shares our blood. Another we meet along the way that’s willing to give their life for us.” Some of us are blessed that we have families we are born into that have that connection with us and also that we have friends who truly become that family of choice.

I often use the phrase “friends who are family” and I mean that in every sense of the word. What a gift to have people in your life with whom you can share completely, good times and bad. These are the people you trust with your secrets, your fears and your dreams. They’re the ones you call to share happy news and the ones who comfort you when the times are rough.

We’ve spent a week of vacation with friends like that and I have thought, more than once, how fortunate we are. The four of us have taken multiple vacations together. We’re all up for the next adventure, willing to try new things and to make the best of it when it doesn’t all go our way. And, in truth we’ve had a few vacation misadventures together. There was the house we rented in Maine that—oops—the owner neglected to mention was on an island that could only be reached by boat. The boat was a dinghy with a small motor and pull string that only worked when it felt like it. Then across the water, there was an ATV that we needed to drive across the pretty unfriendly terrain to get to the house! It could have been a disaster but we all laughed about it, then and now.

Family of another sort was also a part of this vacation week. The phone rang at 6 am and I could see that it was the boarding facility where our dogs are having their own vacation. Our older dog had become ill and the kennel folks were taking him to the vet on an emergent basis. We had phone calls back and forth and an admission to the emergency veterinary hospital. We also both had a few tears as we wondered if this was the end of the line for our irrepressible—but also 15 year old—four legged family member. He is, fortunately, on the road to recovery and that’s a relief. But it also brought home to me, once again, the very broad definition of family and how important it is to me.

We live our lives at high speed, filling every moment with work and commitments. We race from one obligation to the next. I’m grateful to have a full life. But I also need, more often than I do, to remember my full heart and to be grateful for family in all the forms that it takes.