a family
Tonight after Mike got home from work I got to go out. I got to leave the house.
Those of you not held captive by a small child 24 hours a day might not get the significance of that so let me repeat it for you: I got to go out with no kid on a school night and hang out with my friends.
As I sat there in the bar surrounded by people, some that I know and love, some that I've only just met, I realized how lucky I am. I've said recently how amazed I am by Portland's tech community... but what I haven't said is this: It's a family.
It's a family, and in that family I feel like a welcome member... not some weird cousin that sticks things up her nose or makes really inappropriate comments and everyone cringes when she arrives.
It's good to know these people and they don't seem to mind knowing me.
It may not seem like it but by nature I am shy. Painfully shy, but with these wonderful people I've met over the last couple years behind me I can walk into a room, smile and nod, walk up to some one I've never met and tell them unabashedly who I am, and never flinch.
Thank you. Not just for allowing me to be a part of this big family, but for allowing anyone to join you. For accepting so many lost souls with open arms... and for only talking about us behind our backs a little.
Just like a real family.
