 The holidays are coming up and for many that means spending time with your family. As many of you know this year was a more difficult year for mine. In most ways it brought us closer together and we gained more strength and appreciation for eachother. There’s a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. My family and friends were not the only ones supporting me and keeping me strong. I have a few other families that helped me out. They brought me comfort, joy, emotional support, and always reminded me to appreciate my real family-- I am so thankful for them. These additional families are the TV Families I’ve come to love. I watched either on Netflix, DVDs from my local library, reruns on TV, and even as they air in the regular TV season. This might seem silly and weird but in all honesty, they have really been a family to me, and I want to introduce and share them with you! (In no particular order) First up, 2 Broke Girls Max Black and Caroline Channing might seem like unlikely characters I’d call my sisters but that’s how I feel. In January and February of this year, I watched the first 2 seasons on DVD in days. I love them! They’re sassy, kind-not-really-classy, hilarious and fun, and I can relate because I’m broke but each day we get one step closer to making our dreams realities.  Max is actually a really good friend. Caroline is an heiress whose fortune gets taken away because her father was involved in a grand ponzi scheme. She lost her money, home, and friends. Max gives her a place to live when they meet at the diner they both work at.  If you put aside the hilarious and clever innuendos, these girls kick ass. They’re best friends and they have become a family along with the weird crew at the diner. They tell it like it is. As roommates they fight like sisters, learn a new meaning of friendship and family, and after teasing each other they always build the other up. They gave me comfort and something to laugh about when I needed it most...to me is sounds like family! (And I freaking love Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, they are BFFs in real life and seem like two awesome #bossladies)!    Thanks 2 Broke Girls for giving me something to laugh about and be thankful that I don’t work in a diner with Oleg!  Gilmore Girls, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore were two unexpected characters that I enjoyed viewing. I never got on the GG bandwagon back in the day. I watched it with a friend once or twice and couldn’t get into it. Probably because it was in the middle of a season with stuff going on that I knew nothing about. I also remember it being way to “chatty” for my taste at the time.  One night over the summer I decided to give it a try. Several episodes later, after multiple prompts from Netflix, “Are you still watching?” YES! I’m still watching even though it’s 3:30am! I realized that I loved this show. I think I’m in season 2--it’s been awhile since I watched it. But I really fell in love with the characters and the cozy setting of the fictional Connecticut town Stars Hallow--I’m in CT, I’m assuming that town would be placed in Litchfield County based on geographic location….but I love that type of portrayal of a New England cozy town.  Rory and Dean ahh so cute! Please don’t spoil it for me! Lorelai and Luke--does that ever happen?! Rory and Lorelai?! They have such an interesting relationship. Rorey is the more mature one of the relationship which gives it the comedic edge to it because she’s the daughter. Lorelai is always the rebellious daughter/woman--she has to learn things for herself. She hates the few moments that she turns into her own mother when dealing with Rory!  I can relate to young Rory, she’s bright and has ambitions about her future. She and her mom are a total team and would be lost without each other. If this year has taught me one thing its how much I value and appreciate my mom. We’re such a team like Rory and Lorelai. Just like them, we’re so connected an in sync that we operate like a machine! We often say each other , ‘I was just thinking that,” or “That’s what I was going to say!”  Whether is what’s for dinner, a sarcastic joke or working together on a household project we’re two peas in a pod. Like Rory and Lorelai. Although I’m not very far into the series I am super excited for the Netflix special which airs in just a few days. And thanks to Allie’s article from 2 weeks ago, I’m even more excited to catch up with these Gilmore Girls.  The Baxters from Last Man Standing. Although I don’t agree with Mike Baxter’s political views I really appreciate the values and morals this show highlights. Family is the heart and soul of this politically satirical sitcom.  Mike Baxter (played by Tim Allen-- my ultimate TV Dad) has a lovely wife, Vanessa, and 3 daughters, Kristin, Mandy and Eve. He is the marketing director at Colorado’s Outdoor Man store. (Think Cabela's).  Again, I think I’m only on season 3 or 4..but within 1 weekend I finished season 1. Each daughter has their own personality which at times I can’t decide who I relate with more, Kristen, the older liberal daughter with a son; Mandy, the fashion and pop culture obsessed middle daughter who starts her own clothing line; or Eve, the son Mike always wanted...yes you read that correctly. Eve is a spitting image of her father. She likes to hunt, plays football, and joins the ROTC...not at all like me but she’s quite sarcastic and gets along with Mike (as my mom and I get along--see above Gilmore Girls). Both are able to poke fun of their family in a way that so easy just laugh out loud to, most of the time.     This family works out issues that American families can relate to--teenage pregnancy, different family political and religious views, military duty, parenting roles and responsibility, and especially this time of year with political issue running high, the role the government plays in our country.  I laugh, feel safe, and taken care of by this family. I feel inspired and confident like Mandy is to be an entrepreneur and create her dreams into realities. I feel resilient like Kristin having made her own life choices and learning to pave the way for a better future. I feel like Eve, watching her older sibling make mistakes, learning from them and confident in her morals and values. I love the mom, Vanessa, a geolostis but constantly gets made fun of for her boring job. She’s a mom who enjoys her wine and I have to say that my mom and I enjoy drinking along with her!  Then there’s Kyle, an employee of Outdoor Man and boyfriend of Mandy. He’s kind of an airhead, he’s there for for comic relief--but he’s so innocent and childlike. It makes me think of a kinder simpler way of living.  This show has a lot of impact on me. As I said before I feel secure and safe while I’m watching it. I think it’ the family that I always wanted to belong to but in a sense I do have that. My parents are divorced and my mom was the primary caregiver but I feel like this is what my family would have been like had my parents stayed together.   My dad is very much Tim Allen...seriously the jokes, the outdoor/carpentry skills, the politics and if you squint and take my dad’s mustache away he’s basically Tim Allen. My mom well, thankfully she’s not the butt of jokes like Vanessa is...she kinda reminds me of Eve actually: strong willed, brave and sassy! As I said before the daughters are so relatable in bits and pieces it’s truly like a family for me. Binge watching these shows about family helped me when my family needed it most. Family can be blood relatives or friends who are just so close they become your family. Family encourages you and picks you up when things go wrong, then celebrate when things go right. They tell you their honest opinion when it’s hard to hear (it’s funny-- when it’s sassy) but they always love you no matter what. Something specific I learned from the characters from Once Upon a Time (omgosh, I forgot about them?) is that there is always hope and if you do things together as a family you have a strong chance of overcoming your challenges. When I was the rock of my family, these fictional families were quite real and gave me the release and support that I needed to carry on for my real family and difficult situations we faced. So this Thanksgiving I’m thankful not only for my real and healthy family but for my TV families as well!     Share with us who your TV Families/Characters are that matter to you!
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