At KIDS MATTER, we celebrate the many ways we are families…extended kin, intergenerational families, nuclear families, siblings raising siblings, adoptive families, friend families, single parent families, large families and small families. Most of us have many kinds of families in our extended family networks.

Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres says “family is not about blood relations,” it is about “who gets you and supports you.” This is a great day to celebrate all the people who get you and support you… and to be thankful for all those family members who support you even when they don’t get you!

Alaniss created a photo collage and poem about her grandmother that celebrates her grandmother’s love of life, her legacy as the family’s chief storyteller and keeper of the family’s cultural heritage and roots. Alaniss also celebrates the fun they have together. Thank you, Alaniss, for sharing this loving tribute to your grandmother!

This Thanksgiving, encourage the young people in your family to reflect on the storytellers in their lives. Ask them to pick up their phones and snap a picture of what family means to them. After all, our young people will be our family storytellers one day.