My family and I have always been very close. We tell each other everything and we are honest about our opinions (sometimes a little too honest), but I would never call them my relatives. It's not that we aren't related, it's just I don't associate them with relatives. They're more to me than that. They are the people I go to for everything: advice, jokes, and food when I'm hungry. Even if we weren't related, I could guarantee we would be hanging out often. They're my family, my support system, my number one fans and my friends, but they aren't my relatives.

When you hear the word relatives, you think of awkward family visits and those uncomfortable situations you see on TV. You think of people that you aren't really close to and that you barely talk to, especially about delicate things like relationships or emotional stress. They are the crabby aunts and drunk uncles, the troubled cousins and the annoying nieces and nephews. When I think of my family, at least my intermediate family, I do not see that image.

We've been through a lot and have stuck together through rain or shine. We've seen some crazy things, some I couldn't discuss in words alone, but overall we've been through it together. We've chosen to stay together, not because we're related, but because we love each other. I often wonder, what is family? We are taught it is those who birth us, those who raise us, those whose blood is the same as ours. I don't believe that, though, not by a long shot.

Family is something much deeper. It's not the people who you're related to, those are your relatives. It's the people you turn to in times of trouble, it's the people who support you and your ambitions -- whatever they may be. It's the people who you can laugh with, but it's also the people who give you a shoulder to cry on. Family can be friends, relatives or even those you encounter along the way. It's more than blood, it's more than society's expectations, it's a promise to each other and to you. Family is a promise to be there, a promise to support, even when you don't know the answers yourself. Family is people full of love, patience, and kindness; even when it gets tough, it survives the storms and winds.

Family is the people you choose to go through your journey with you, because blood may be thicker than water, but the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.