My life hasn't always been so easy. It hasn't always been full of smiles and laughter and love. I haven't always felt respected or noticed. There was a time when I was convinced that the world would be better off without me. I didn't believe that I was worthy enough for the life that I was living - that I wasn't worthy of a family who really truly wanted me.

You taught me that there is more to life than what I was used to. You showed me that family is so much more than just blood.

I grew up in a quiet household; one with a younger brother and two parents who worked. We would fight all the time, but it always felt so empty. And then I met you. You showed me how full family could make you feel. Instead of filling a room with tension, anger, and regret you fill the room with laughter and joy. You have never treated me like a burden or someone who messed your entire life up. You opened your arms and your home and showed me the truest compassion that I have ever seen.

You have always been there, always been the ones that I could go to with any problem. You have always understood what was going on, have always been that shoulder to cry on. You may not be my biological parents, but that doesn't really matter. You treat me like your child, you show me the unconditional love that you show the rest of your children. You treat me like I am worth something and I cannot thank you enough for that.

And to my non-biological siblings: you are the best things that have ever happened to me. You are my biggest support system, by absolute best friends, my shoulders to cry on, the ears that I rant to, the people that I trust most in the world. I know that I can go to you at any time and tell you anything. I know that even though we really really hate each other, there is also nothing but love in our hearts for each other. You have taught me patience and teamwork and even a little about compromise and forgiveness. Through you, I have learned how to become a better person. I have learned how to attack problems head on, and I have definitely honed my confrontational skills.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have found a family like yours. I don't know what I have done in my life to deserve all of you...but I am sure glad that I did it. I can't imagine what would make you want to take me in as one of your own, but I will be eternally grateful for it. I know that I am hard to deal with. I know that I can be annoying. I know that I don't always say the right words in every situation. I know that I can be a huge pain in the ass. And I know that you don't have to put up with any of it - but you all choose to deal with me instead of kicking me out of your lives. I might not understand it, but I feel it to.

You are my family - the family that I choose to have in my life forever. We are not biologically related, we don't share the same genes, but you're my family. You are the people that I look to for advice. You are the people who make me smile when you walk into a room. You are the ones that I am always excited to see. The people that I would do absolutely anything for. You are not the family that I was given when I was born, but you are the family who I choose to love. And you choose me too (which is pretty amazing).

I haven't had the best life in the past, but you look past all of that. You don't see the mess that I make - you see the beauty and the potential in me. You see someone worth choosing, worth loving forever. And through you...I start to see that too.

So thank you, thank you for choosing me. I don't know where I would be without you.