It’s the day after Thanksgiving and this year was the first time I spent it away from Miami and my family. I kept telling this to myself and others – the part of being away from my family – which I came to realize only made me feel more distant from those in front of me and those in Miami.
If I reflect on who my family is then I would have to say that it’s anyone whom I feel is a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, a cousin… But what do these labels really mean? Who are they describing? To me, they are describing people who support and serve me and whom I support and serve as well. Anyone with whom you can laugh, cry, love, dance, play, learn from, grow with, disagree with, be silly with, and ultimately see him/her as the same.
As I sat in a table full of “strangers” on this Thanksgiving dinner I saw each person individually and thought to myself, “why couldn’t these people be my family?” And the truth is that they could be, and for the night, they were. So I had two families last night… one family that I’ve known for 35 years whom I briefly saw on FaceTime last night and another family that I knew for 35 minutes consisting of seven fun and excited children, a scruffy dog named Scooby, a chubby rabbit, brother Jason, brother Billy, family chef Dave, a fellow Argentinian sister, two animation writer cousins :), a handful of other extended family plus my loving partner Eric whom brought us all together. Seeing this new family in front of me, even if for a brief moment in my life, made me realize that they were serving me and I them just by sharing quality time together.
I’m so grateful for my eyes which allow me to see everyone as a brother, a sister, a mother, a father… because it fuels love universally. And let me tell you, it feels damn good too. Happy Day of Gratitude Today and Errday! 
