Family is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about all the blessings in my life. When I say family of course I mean my parents and siblings, but I also mean my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc. It seems pretty obvious, right? Of course people would be thankful for their family. It’s a given in a lot of cases. But I have really thought a lot about how lucky I am to have the family I have.

I would not be the woman I am today if it weren’t for ALL of my family. Not just my parents (even though obviously they had a HUGE role in shaping me into who I am today), but also my extended family. I have memories of playing over at my cousin’s house and my brothers would be off playing with my boy cousins and I would be sitting there with my aunt playing with dolls. Even though I wasn’t playing with the boys, I didn’t feel left out because of the type of family I have. I remember I was helping my little cousin with something and my uncle said, “Laura, do you want to be a teacher when you’re older?” and ever since then I had the idea in my head and can’t imagine doing anything else. They point things out to me that I wouldn’t have seen myself.

I have such strong family values because of the type of people I am surrounded with. I want to be close with my family, I want the person I bring home one day to like my family, and most importantly I want my family to like him. I want their approval because they have worked so hard to get me to where I am today. And they continue to help me grow and mature in more ways than I thought.

So yes. I am thankful for my family. For every single member of my family. I know I wouldn’t be where I am at today without all of their love and support. They never fail to tell me how much they love and care for me. I really got lucky. So thank you to my parents, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, second cousins, etc. I am who I am because of you all. I don’t know how to repay you for all that you have done and continue to do, but I hope you know how much I love you and how badly I want to make you proud.