We don't make the choice ourselves to be born. We don't choose who our biological family is. But, we do choose who we get to call family. We get to choose who we spend everyday with and who we get to call when we have exciting news. We get to choose who will be the one we want to keep in our life forever.
There's a quote out there in the great World Wide Web that says, "Here's to the nights that turned into mornings, with the friends that turned into family." While this may be cliche, I live by it.
Growing up, you meet people who were once strangers to you. You meet on the playground or at a party and click over your matching shoes or in some cases, hating the same person. Most of the time, you don't even remember how you met because its years later and it doesn't even matter. However this meeting took place, you couldn't imagine life now without these people. They're crazy and stupid, but you love them for every flaw they have.
These strangers are now my family.
No, we are not biologically related and I do not share DNA with them, but we do share about 12 brothers and a sister. After college started, we could have separated and gone different ways, but instead we grew closer. When winter break or summer hits, you'll barely ever see us apart. We spend more time with one another than we do with our actually biological families.
We’re not your typical group of friends. We don’t even call each other by our actual names. It’s either someone’s last name or a random name that people have made up based on your last name. Sometimes we don’t even remember how they got it, but it stuck. We are the ones who stay up until 4 am to watch a meteor shower that we are basically too drunk to even watch. We are the ones who will talk about our most embarrassing stories just for the hell of it. We are the ones who will take 2 hours to walk home a mile because we have to stop every 5 minutes to laugh about something stupid.
These people have seen me at my worst and seen me at my best, but they never chose to leave. They’re my go to people for everything and anything. There’s no time of the day or night that’s too early or too late; they will always be there to sit and rant with. They’ve taught me that no matter the situation, if I am happy, they will be happy for me. They’re the ones who help me finish my sentences when I’m drawing a blank and give me the support I need to keep going.
No matter where life takes us or what may happen, these people will always be there with me day in and day out. They are the ones that will be standing there on my wedding day, ready to shotgun a beer.
Now that you're in my life, i wouldn't want to imagine any of you out of it.
