How can it be that Bette Midler’s ‘Oh, You Got to Have Friends' didn't make it into the 100 Best Songs with Friends in the Title or even the secondary list?

And, even though they did include another one of her songs, they spelled her name incorrectly!  Travesty, apologies to the Divine Miss M!

“Thank God you can choose your friends, because you’re stuck with your family!”

‍This is a phrase that I grew up hearing my father state - repeatedly.  Sometimes in jest, sometimes in disdain, sometimes with a shrug, sometimes with a smile.  I thought it was funny until I realized that I was part of the group he was stuck with and not the one he chose!

The family that we are born into is the connection to our genetic heritage.  For those of us lucky enough to say that this nuclear family gave us a healthy, loving framework upon which to build our lives, it’s a blessing.  For so many people, however, the family they were born into isn’t a neat, tidy, happy, healthy system.  Families, (like the people in them), are messy and complicated.  The relationships between people in families evolve as the people themselves grow and change, sometimes for the better and sometimes worse.

So, it isn’t surprising that the friends we choose to make a part of our “families” are so important to us.  They reflect not only who we are but who we want to become and who we want to be associated with.  They are not those who simply through blood or history claim the right to be called family but rather are invited in and given the places they inhabit in our lives.

Jim and I are so grateful for the wide ranging group of people who enrich our lives.  Some of them are “blood relations” but many, many more are our “family” of friends.  We have been very touched by how many of these people have been not only willing, but enthusiastic, visitors to and workers on Runaway Ridge.

Many folks have commented on this over the years and marveled at how we get people to come to the middle of nowhere to spend days working their asses off with us!!!!

Let me quickly be sure to tell our family members that we love you and appreciate you.  We’re happy to be stuck with you (Homage to Huey Lewis and The News - Stuck with You)!

Sharing Runaway Ridge with friends and family has brought us such joy.  We couldn’t have accomplished what we have and what we’re currently doing without their support and assistance.  We appreciate the creative, constructive input that all of them have offered over the years and we hope they will continue to do so..  There’s no doubt that us as people and Runaway Ridge as a place are made better with the love and support of both our family and our friends.  Thank you!

And you're welcome...

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