As it is with most modern families, I have relatives that don't have much to do with my side of the family. It's something that has always haunted me. There are many family members that I yearn to have relationships with but sometimes things just aren't meant to be.

With a lack of blood relatives in my life (with the exception of a few precious, loving aunts, uncles and cousins), I found myself looking for a family in other places. I wanted to be a part of something where I felt loved, wanted and cherished. I wanted that feeling of connection.

My entire life I have grown up in the same small neighborhood. This means I have become close with a lot of my neighbors and their families. In 2002, my father, while walking the family dog and taking a break from trying to clean up the destructive mess a large house fire left us, happened to strike up a conversation with some teenagers playing basketball in the neighborhood park.

The group of teenagers would offer help cleaning up and restoring our house back to its peaceful state. The group of teenagers, who turned out to be cousins who all lived in the neighborhood, would eventually introduce my parents to their parents. They would eventually introduce my parents to their siblings. Their grandparents. Their aunts and uncles. Their friends. Their significant others. The group of teenagers would eventually start introducing us to people as "their family".

We began to go to all of their graduation parties, birthday parties, family dinners, weddings, Thanksgivings, Christmases, and more. We were "adopted" into this family. With "the group of teenagers" and their families being spread across three houses in the neighborhood, there was always lots of company somewhere. That group of teenagers became my family.

My 11th birthdayAnneMarie C. Mantei

They have done everything family is supposed to. Alisha taught me about moving far away from home successfully. Afifa taught me how to be young at heart. Pratima showed me how to find something you love, and pursue it! Nafil taught me how to do a K-turn. Kris and Kailash were there to dig my dog's grave when she died. Nevede always gave my sister and me the coolest hand-me-downs (some of which I feel like I still own since they are so stylish!).

Some of my sisters and I at my graduation partyAnneMarie C. Mantei

All my adopted siblings gave my family the necessary aspects of a family. There are so many people (aunts, uncles, friends and other relatives) that I am leaving out that have contributed in so many ways to my life. They all gave me the facets of a family that I have always wanted.

My dad striking up a conversation with that group of teenagers playing basketball in the old Halstead Park was the best thing to ever happen to me. They introduced us to their family and took us in. The most loving, caring, genuine, honest, authentic, entertaining people in the world came into my life to make up for everything my blood relatives didn't offer.

At times, I felt as if I had lacked a sense of family. But the older I get, the more I realize I have everything that I could ever need. They might not be related by blood, but they offer everything a family should and more. They love, care, and provide all the things that I always felt I never had with the majority of my blood family.

Family doesn't mean blood. It means people who care, love and want you. It means people who are there for you through the good and bad. It means those you choose to spend your most precious moments with.