My Adopted Family--expanded by a sidetrack years ago

I have an extended family that became that way through another sidetrack. I started out making a very good friend in high school, who became a college roommate for the year we were away at the same school, then we were in each others' weddings, and we are godparents to their son (our church did not do godparents, or they would have served that role for us too). It turns out that her husband and mine also hit it off immediately and are good friends. She is also an only child like I am, so I have often felt we are sort of like sisters. I even expect that I get on her nerves like a sister occasionally does, but she still loves me. Our family has almost always been able to drop in on at least part of their holiday celebrations, so we have known the whole family for many years.

Over 25 years ago, we got a phone call from this friend's sister-in-law (sister of her husband). They were wanting to buy the house 4 doors down from where they currently lived and wondered if we might want to buy their house. We had not really thought about moving, but they did have a swimming pool--very appealing. It turns out my uncle was there real estate agent, but I don't recall who suggested they call us. We did some quick looking at other properties to compare, some quick thinking, some quick math, and decided to make the move.

As a result of this move, we became neighbors and developed a very close friendship with who I had previously just thought of as the sister-in-law and her husband. We also became the godparents of their daughter. We may have never gotten to know them so well without spending so many years in this close proximity, having almost daily contact.

Another gain in this new neighborhood was a couple about my parents' ages who became an extra set of grandparents for our kids and became family and friends to my parents, aunts, and uncles as they got to know them at our holiday gatherings. They are the crossovers that attend both our family get-togethers.

This completely unplanned, sidetracking move, blessed us with wonderful new lifelong friends and relationships. Our kids grew up playing together and still keep in touch to differing degrees. It is a joy to get to spend time with the kids since they are all out of town now. This past weekend, we got to see some of them. It is a fun time right now because one of the girls just had a baby and 2 are due in the next 7 weeks to 4 months. I love these people and am also so thankful to all the things that brought us all together. It is probably unusual to be close friends with all the siblings and in-laws in a family. It is fun to see in retrospect what blessings occurred because of being sidetracked from our own original plan.