When Friendships Become Family

Sometimes, family isn’t close by.
Sometimes, the people who love you most are separated by borders, time zones, and years apart.

I am incredibly blessed with a loving family—one that wishes, with all their heart, to be here with us. But life hasn’t made that possible. We have lived in different countries for years now, almost a decade, loving each other from afar and learning how to show up across oceans.

And then… Ottawa happened.

Here, we found family in another form.
We found friends who became family.

People who didn’t have to, but chose to.
People who opened their arms, their homes, and their hearts.
People who became our safe place, our support system, our everyday support.

They are kind in ways that go beyond words. Thoughtful in ways that heal. Present in ways that hold you up when you don’t know how to stand on your own. They are the ones who are always there—the hand reaching out, ready to hold you, ready to help, ready to walk beside you.

That kind of friendship is rare.
It’s not easy to find.
It is a blessing.

Those are angels sent your way to take care of you.

Ellos son obra de Dios.
God, in His infinite and unconditional love, is always watching over us. He takes away—but He also gives. And sometimes, what He gives comes wrapped in friendships you didn’t knew before, new friends, new family.

And somehow, we found each other.

We became family—not by blood, but by choice.
By shared meals, shared tears, shared laughter.
By showing up again and again.

Family is not only who you are born to.
Sometimes, family is who life brings to you when you need it most.

And for that, I am endlessly grateful.