This is my family tree:
I drew this diagram from memory (it's not complete) on the whiteboard in my office last year to illustrate a point to a colleague: family is everything to me. Those shapes aren't just entries in a historical record, they're people who I've known and who have surrounded me my entire life. Not being near to them is as unnatural to me as not including my middle initial/name in my signature*. The shapes inside the circle are all in Chicago. And it's for that reason that I've always known my time at Microsoft and in Seattle could never be forever.
Since arriving in Seattle 8-years ago I've flown across the country (and to Canada once) for weddings, birthdays, graduations, almost every major US holiday (can you imagine having to call all those people if you miss Christmas?), a couple of drivers tests, and for one particular relation for