For many LGBTQ+ families, there is the blood family and the chosen family. Over the years, Chris and I have been very fortunate to have had great relationships with many of our blood family. We have also developed a very large group of friends many of whom we would consider part of our chosen family. For us, there is another “family group” that has provided both of us with immense levels of joy, happiness, and love: our extended family. In this context, extended means those that have become part of our family as much as one can without being a blood relative.
Our Little Brother: Trey
On March 14, 2008, we met Trey and his mom, Andrea. This was our first meeting after being matched through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and it was the “match introduction” and an opportunity to see if we would like each other enough to build a mentoring relationship. Little did we know, that on that day, our lives would change forever.
Growing our family
In early October 2014, during a fateful day in New Orleans, I answered a call from a friend who was trying to find a new home for an exchange student who had been placed inappropriately in podunk Texas. While sipping our 2nd or 3rd hurricane at Pat O’Briens, we naturally said “shuurre” and so our journey began.
Over the next years, we met some of the most amazing young people who had decided to give up their lives in their home country to come to school and experience American culture in the USA. And not just the USA, but the Frisco, Texas part of the USA!
So without further ado, let’s meet these members of our extended exchange family.