Many times we think of a family as a group of people sharing a common bond. That bond can be born into the family, married into the family, adopted into the fami-ly, or a combination of many ele-ments. In the end, they are still family no matter the differences in opinions, the color of their skin, the language they speak, or the gender they possess. We are blessed to call our Union brothers and sisters family.

For never in the history of our country have people been so di-vided. Many of the freedoms and values that we have come to cher-ish have come under attack.

It is easy for us to forget the hard-fought liberty that we have gained as Americans and focus on one issue as our values and beliefs are eroded and attacked on many fronts, but at the end of the day, we are united.

We should never forget, that as Union Members we are family and that we share many common issues, and some not so common, but at the end of the day, we are a melting pot of the strengths and values of our members.