[I'm participating in Gwen Bell's Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, in case you're all like, what's with the theme?]

Gift. What’s a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?

Life is more than our principles and theories; it’s the people around us. People are the gift that keeps on giving. People are the point.

Somehow I find myself surrounded now by people who will sit up from a dead sleep at 3 in the morning if I need them. Who humor me, embrace me, cheer me on, cheer me up and tell me to man the fuck up when it needs to be said. They pull no punches, and I never for a moment doubt that they love me. And so, I work at these relationships. I don’t always do a great job, but the goal is longevity. I keep at it, because these people mean everything to me.

It’s hard to explain how totally beyond my grasp this situation has seemed for most of my life. (Misfits will understand; the rest of you, just substitute, like, I don’t know, waking up a millionaire tomorrow morning. Crazy, right?) So yeah, this thing, this having people who get me and love me and are in it for the long haul — it’s pretty amazing. Gorgeous, even. Some of my online profiles say, simply, “Luckiest girl alive,” and it’s almost entirely due to these people.

So. Roger, Luke, Tanea, Kristen, Sara, Hector, Bob, Tammy, Dyana, Ava, Christia, Lupe, Emad, Kathy and the rest of the people who are not related by blood, but who chose to be anyway, who make my life so rich…I adore you, and intend to continue to make it worth your while.

xo,

Emma