It is time for lap 2 in the Congratulations Saydie marathon. But before we get into the photo bonanza, I want to take a small quick time to take umbrage with one of the responses I received to the last batch of Saydie images. They pulled out the part of the entry where I referred to Saydie as my niece and held it up to mockery, since we share not a scrap of DNA or would share part of a family tree through marriage.
This person feels that the only nieces and nephews I have are my biological nieces in nephews and the children of Olivia’s brother and sisters.
My reaction to their commentary is just pure sadness. I hope they don’t go through life with this stilted definition of the word “family”.
The New York Times ran an articles and asked high school students to define family. I just want to share two:
Caitlin
I do not think there is such thing as a “normal family” because everyone’s lifestyle is different, and it would be a stereotype to say that all normal families have a Mom, a Dad and kids or a pet. That is not true. Some people choose a different choice. There are kids with two moms, or two dads, and with one mom or one dad. There are also plenty of kids who live with a close relative as well. Family are the people you feel safe and secure with. Everyone’s family is normal to them, because that is how they live their life. So be proud of your family, and don’t classify one family as normal.
AND
Taylor
I define a family as a group of people who share laughter, sadness, tragedy, victory, loss, regret, happiness, and success together. A family is hard to define. Most commonly one thinks a man, a woman, and their children. Time has shown this isn’t an exact answer. Grandparents, adopted parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and even just friends can make up a family. Family is important for individuals to lead happy lifestyles and to become satisfied with their life.
I just hope that the commentator opens their heart some day. Maybe if they owned a dog…
Here are a ton more pictures of my niece Saydie:
There will be a ton more pictures from Saydie’s senior pictures photo shoot in the coming weeks!