Original Son

People say that “blood is thicker than water”. And by that they mean that family ties, specifically genetic family ties, usurp any other relationship.

But what is family?

As foster parents we’ve welcomed non-genetically bound boys into our family on a long term basis. Five of them in all. And our genetic inheritance, the boys of our blood, have been gracious enough to view and treat the invaders, the Not Family, as brothers. At the same time the boys who have joined us, have continued to maintain, in various fashions, relationship with their own genetic kin.

Truth be told family life has always been a complicated thing. And it’s make up has changed over the years. The “mum and dad and two kids” scenario has been the norm for periods of time. But more often than not family is, and always has been, something else entirely. Something more malleable and unpredictable.

And it’s always a work in progress.

Original Son was written to celebrate our own version, one version, of the Family Phenomenon.