There are only a few things I find quite strange in this world and family is one of them. One famous saying is “Family is Everything”, and while, yes, this is true, there are so many different kinds of relationships in families that may or may not be everything to some people.
We grow up knowing we love our family (I know I love each and every one of them), and not just our moms and dads, but our grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and even our great great aunts and second cousins once removed. With that, we are taught to love these family members unconditionally. However, isn’t it odd that we are taught to love someone just because we share the same blood? Obviously, I am to know my parent's parent's and siblings and who they were once and still are in love with unconditionally, but some family members further in the family tree, or even not, I know nothing about, but have always loved.
Cousins are the weirdest thing for some people. I am expected to go to family gatherings and hang out with my cousins because we ought to bond before I have to leave for three years again. Don’t get me wrong, I love my cousins, but I didn’t grow up with them and wasn’t raised in the same place. If I were to not be related to my cousins, and certain members of the family, I don’t think I would have been friends with them. Not because they are bad people, but because we are just completely different people, but I guess I could say that I have bonded with them on multiple occasions and I am grateful for that.
This goes along with multiple family members who I feel I am forced to spend time with at family gatherings as well. Not that I don’t want to spend time with them, but sometimes we go to family gatherings and I haven’t seen half of these people in years and all of the sudden we are telling each other how much we have missed each other and that we love each other so much, but we don’t know hardly anything each other. The looks on people’s faces when their third cousin twice removed is showing them baby pictures is hilarious. It’s like we all have to act like we’ve known each other for years when some of us forgot each other's names, but truly, we are all pretty close in the end.
It makes it a little more uncomfortable for me because all of my family members on both sides of the family live near each other, so they spend a lot more time together than I have ever spent with extended family members. When we go visit, they are so used to each other that I am the odd one out, but that is okay. I love getting to know the people that I share traits with.
Sometimes I wonder if I would have ever met these people if we didn’t share the same blood, but maybe there is a weird chemical in our shared blood that connects us to each other. Maybe it trains our brain to love others with the same blood cells, which is why we find love in others around the world. I am probably taking this too far.
So, despite this awkwardness, we all have some of the best times of our lives being at these gatherings. We do get to see people we were once, or still are, close with. We get to understand where our culture and blood comes from. And most importantly, we know there is always someone there for us.
This applies to friends as well. Most of your friends know you better than some of your family does and so you might consider them family and even your “everything”. You might even wonder if they were meant to have the same blood as you.
Either way, whether you need a kidney transplant, or just a friend to count on, family will always be there to support you 100% on what you do, no matter how close they actually are to you, and I hope you continue to love all of your family no matter the circumstance of friendship.
