Do you have a group of people that you consider your second family? How did they become a part of your life?

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1999

Answers

well, first there's my second and third sets of parents. they're one thing. they actually belong to my two favorite ex boyfriends, one of whom i actually broke up with more than five years ago. libby and dave, however, stayed my alternate parents all through high school. she unfortunately passed away this summer. i miss her terribly. the second set are eileen and andy, my most recent ex's parents. tim and i are best friends, even after breaking up, and i consider his parents my parents and i think he considers mine his. which is cool, if we ever get back together.

then there's my second family. of course, the answer is the same: the theater kids at school. like you've noted before, pamie, working together kind of just makes these things happen. but the cast, crew and orchestra of falsettos were so amazing and so close that i consider them - and peripherals - to be my second family. they have TRULY seen me at my worst, after having crawled back out from under the stage. ick.

sometimes second families are the best kind.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1999

I love my friends:) None of us have anything very concrete in common and we all became friends out of convience, but I still love them to death. We've been through so much together... I've kept them as friends longer than I've kept any of my other friends (2 years). I don't know what I'd do without them:)

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1999

I just got back from visiting my second family for Thanksgiving. They are my "american parents" and I am their "canadian kid".

For the millionth time in the last week, here's the scoop: when their daughter & I were kids, we were in Girl Guides/Girl Scouts and were paired together in an exchange program. From about age twelve on, I spent my summers with them. Her family is my family, and vise versa. Her high school friends = my high school friends (we all live with the myth that we went to high school together). I went to their high school reunion. I tell people I'm going home when I go to visit them. However, right now, I live closer to her family than she does, and I see them a lot more often. I keep in touch with different high school friends than she does. People think it's odd, but I wouldn't have it any other way (and I get to celebrate both sets of holidays)!

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1999

Okay, I have two sets of 2nd families.

The first one is a family that my family goes camping with at least once or twice every summer. We get together to play Trival Pursuit, go minature golfing, flea market shopping and cook omelettes on the last day. They're from my hometown and I consider the parents my secondary in a way.

I have a "cyber mom" that I met in a chatroom a few years ago. She took an instant liking to me and referred to me lovingly as her 'redheaded step-child'. She's picked me up when I've needed it and I'll always be grateful. I still call her "Mom" in emails, to this day.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 1999