Family
Family, what is it? What makes a family, how can you
describe it? Is it the people you are around, or maybe the people who you are
blood related with. How about friends or appearance?
Family to me is just anyone who cares about you, and would
do almost anything for you. It doesn't matter about looks, race, size, or
shape. Nope to me family is anyone who cares. I was adopted and growing up
everyone would say "do you miss your family?" my response was always
"what do you mean, I live with them." I failed to mention my adopted
parents are both white while my brother and I are African American. Although we
are not their biological children we have never been treated as if we were
anything less. They are family they care about me, and are always therefore me.
I remember seeing a family picture on the wall when I was young and I knew I
looked different from everyone else, but it has never bothered me because I always
felt like there was no difference. I mean I saw my other friends with their
families being treated the same way, it didn't seem like there was much
different other than our physical appearance.
Some of my best friends I would consider family for
the exact same reason. They are not related, but they are always there for me when
I need them and I'm always there for them. If I were to call my friend Austin
at midnight and say hey I need a ride, he would be there no questions asked,
and I would do the same for him. When people think of family they may not
include friends, but some people very close relationships with their
friends. If you are at the point where you can just walk into someone's house
and sit down and no one says a word, as if you walked into you own house that's
kind of like a family id say. I'm pretty sure at least once a month I say
"yeah man you're family to me" to my friends, so if I'm saying I
guess he's family, I mean who's to say he's not?
Let’s say I told you all of this, I said I live with
my parents and have a brother, yet left out the part about being adopted,
everyone would be like yup, that's your family! Since I told you people think
well, what about your old family, do you miss them? Why are they mentioned as
Family to me, is the standard for family being blood related, I don't think so.
I don't even know them, they never raised me, cared for me, or even are ever
around. Family to me is determined by who cares for you and is always there for
you. My best friends are more family to me than my birth parents. Other than
giving birth to me my friends have done way more! It's crazy to me that some people put blood
relation and looking alike so much into family, because there are plenty of people who
look like others in the world, yet have no relation so does that make them
family? I would say not.
My mother checking on me saying "cam how are your
grades" is what family does my best friends calling randomly just to say
"how you been man, I miss you" is family. Being blood related isn't
the be all end all for a family to me nor is looks. They both can be traits you
have in a family, but it’s not everything. Two identical twins get split at
birth and never meet each other, or even know they had a twin would you
consider them family? They are blood related, they look exactly alike, but they
have never even spoken, heck they don't even know the other is alive. We would
most likely say they are not family, but what if two brothers who looked
totally different were raised together and played with one another, I would
certainly consider them more of a family.
One of the better quotes on family I have ever heard was
from my grandmother "Family are people who are always there for
you, and will always care for you" how can you do either of those things
if you do not know the person or maybe not even know they exist, I don't think
you can. I mean if the person died and you had no clue they were alive yet you
were blood related could you be upset because you cared about the person? I
find hard to believe you could.
So, I may not look anything like my parents, or friends and
we certainly are not blood related, but they still always checking up
on me, worrying about me and caring about me. That's what I consider the
qualifications of family.
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