So you might be reading that headline and sub-headline and think "tHaT dOeS'nT mAkE aNy SeNsE, hOw CaN wE cHoOsE oUr FaMiLy AnD nOt ChOoSe OuR fAmIlY?"

Well, simply put, we can't choose our blood relatives, but we can choose who we call family. We can choose the people we treat like family on a day to day basis.

The people we have in our lives can become closer to us than our own flesh and blood. There's a reason why saying that someone is "like family" is such a term of endearment.

That being said, we do CHOOSE to let friends become like family to us. Someone merely being your friend doesn't make them like family. That kind of trust and relationship is earned through being around one another and growing closer.

We can choose to let people in for them to become closer.

Closer than brothers.

Closer than sisters. Closer than parents.

My friends are my family. My blood is my family.

I love them all because they helped make me the person I am today. I am happy to have such a big family because I care for them all equally, and without all of their support, I wouldn't be able to do everything that I do.

Blood may be thicker than water, but we need both to survive.

If you don't have at least one friend that feels like family to you, then it's time to reevaluate your current friendships. If they don't feel like family, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad friendship, but you need to think about how close you are with your friends because there should be someone outside of your blood relatives that you are that close with.

Yes, even you Alabama.

Friends are the family we choose, and we all need a family.