Family

Introduction

Family....It is a word that we hear all time and associate it with different things and means all sorts to different people. But what is a family? The Oxford Online English dictionary states that a family is:

"A group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit"

But for many of us, this statement would be offensive and for some, a family only consists of one parent for others no parent at all, to be defined this way would not be fair.

A family only consists of blood relatives....

Quite often the only family that matters is those we share the same DNA with, the same blood. This would normally be our parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, brothers or sisters but how far would you take it? Cousins? Second cousins? For people who have been adopted, this would be unfair and leave them isolated and distant.

Having blood relatives isn't always "sunshine and rainbows" more often than not there are feuds within the family, divisions appear and those "family reunions" end up being closer to World War III than a happy occasion for us all to catch up on. Plus no-one wants to be associated with the one member of the family who hugs that bottle of wine at weddings.

What about adopted families....?

So what about those people out there who have been adopted? Are they part of a family? For some to try and get past that lack of a blood connection is impossible. But why? If you still have that closeness, that "family bond" surely they are as much part of a family unit as those that you share a DNA connection with. But what is an adopted family? For most the answer to this question is obvious, it is most likely a child who has been adopted through a council or independent agency. Although this is the most common method of having an adopted family there are other ways, friends, for example, could become part of your family unit. Perhaps they have no family of their own and the closeness and bond you have with them is so strong that they are part of your family unit and they attend all those occasions important to you such as Christmas and birthdays. You may even include them in other ways such as asking them to be a God-Parent to your child or they may even wish to change their surname to make them feel more part of your family.

What do we look forward to in a family?

Maybe it's that Sunday dinner when everyone is around the table, smiling, laughing and being civil reminding you of the closeness and bond that you have with each other. Or is it knowing that you always have family members that you can rely on at a moment's notice whenever a disaster arrives? And for some it maybe that happy feeling when you return from work or school knowing that you have someone waiting at home for you to embrace.

TV

We are constantly reminded of family through television series or even film and books and often we are reminded that it is pure fiction that you are watching before your very eyes. But that fiction had to come from somewhere. The writers who put that together for your viewing pleasure are real people, with real family values and although some ideals maybe dreams for some of us they give us hope and surely that is as equally as important?

What if I am alone already? Or my family has fallen apart?

If family is important to you, then fight for it! If it has fallen apart, mend it! If you are alone and you want a family, build one up!

Coming from someone who had it all, only to have lost it I can tell you now you can get it back!

I know this blog post has been different compared to others that I have done and will be the first of a series of thought provoking posts that I will be doing, so please do let me know what you think.

References:

"Family - Definition Of Family In English | Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. N.p., 2017. Web. 20 May 2017.