Normal Family

What is a normal family? What constitutes normal? Standard, typical, or expected is another narrative created around family life. Everyone has their own journey.

When our kids were growing up, the school had an annual event called Love Makes A Family. High school students down to kindergarten, including the teachers, would hang art projects about their families on the walls. Black families, brown families, gay families, bi-racial families, divorced families, single-parent families, and any family that exists. Those photos gave anyone who walked those walls real insight into the student body that made up the school. It always warmed my heart.

These days countless partners have children through insemination with a stranger’s sperm. This scientific breakthrough has changed the family landscape and given utter joy to numerous families who have struggled with fertility. It has also given joy to gay partners wanting children.

My friend Chrysta Bilton grew up in an unconventional family that is becoming more conventional. Chrysta is an incredible storyteller. The book’s name says it all, Normal Family: On Truth, Love and How I Met My 35 Siblings. I gobbled up the book in a day, turning the pages without ever looking up.

Her story is the new normal, and I love it!