On Family

"Blood means you’re related, it doesn’t mean you’re family." ~ Shawn Patrick Hunter, Boy Meets World

Coming from a dysfunctional family myself, I can't say that this particular line didn't hit home. In fact, I found it as a huge face slap, just not on mine. It becomes more of a reminder - no matter how society irritatingly assures you that your family will and always be your last defense against everyone and anyone - they too, can also be your greatest source of disappointment, grief, misery and sorrow.

But I got lucky. Despite a huge percentage of friends and acquaintances coming from the same background as mine, God gave me friends that I could absolutely hope for and aspire to have someday. He gave me friends with normal, happy family. He gave me friends with families that constantly remind me that not everything will turn out the same way as mine turned out.

I may have missed out on family solidarity, closeness, bonding and great experiences but I don't believe that it made me less of a person. What makes someone less of a person for me is a family who wouldn't stick with you in troubling times. By condemning, belittling and denouncing instead of helping, forgiving and assisting a relative in dire need of it, that person has already negated the meaning of family that I have always envision inside my head.

You're no longer a family if you've forgotten what family is all about.

Because it was never meant to be all about "you" or "me". It was and always will be about "us". An unselfish family member, that's all anyone in this world could ever hope and wish for.

PS:

Urban dictionary, for me, has the funniest explanation of what family means. Some can be hilariously true though. ;)