What I am Passionate About....

I am writing this post for a contest. The winner of the Mabel’s Labels BlogHer ‘10 Contest  will get a trip to Blogher 2010 and a job blogging for Mabel's Labels for a year.

The Challenge:  Write a post on your blog in response to the following hypothetical situation: Electrical storms are going to wipe out the Internet (perhaps forever). You have one day left to write about your passions: what do you want to say to the blogosphere in 300 words or less? 


Here is my entry.


Family is what matters most to me.

When I was 8 years old my family changed forever. My baby sister was hit by an impaired driver. In an instant life as I had known it ended. Everything came crashing down. My sister was only 5 years old. She survived. We all did. It was hard but my parents are strong people and they helped us all learn to live life in this new reality. My sister survived but was never going to be the same. None of us were. She was facing a life of serious challenges but she was alive and we were so happy that she was still with us.

Fast forward 30 years, I am a mother now. My girls are 6 and 4 years old. My youngest daughter is just months away from her 5th birthday, the same age my sister was when she was hit. The power of what happened to my sister and our entire family hits home. Only now can I truly understand how difficult it must have been for my Mom and Dad. My parents kept our family together.

My parents have shown me what it is to be a parent, to be a great parent. They know how close our family came to losing everything in an instant. They value family above all else. I have learned from my parents about how important family is. I am working to teach my children the importance of family. At the end of the day family is all that we have.  We support each other, love each other, and learn from each other.

Family is what I am passionate about.