Family. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. It’s the oldest cliché in the book but many of us seem to find ourselves saying it in happiness, frustration, and just about any other emotion that our family can bring to us. We love our family because they are who we share the same blood with. Of course, they can anger us and give us the biggest of headaches; but at the end of the day, family is all that matters. Here’s why.

1. They’re there for the long haul

The people that make up our family are those that’ll stick around for life. They are the people that no matter how upset we are with them, we will always learn to forgive them because they are who matters most to us, and forgive and forget is a never-ending game we will play with them. They have been there since the beginning of our existence and they’re the reason we were given life. They’re not going anywhere and they’ll be there until the end of our lives.

2. They’re part of our greatest memories

Family functions can be in relation to some of our greatest memories. Specific holidays, birthdays, reunions, etc. can involve some of our favorite, closest, and sometimes distant family members that call for laughs, stories that either make you cringe or bring you joy, and memories that are being formed before our eyes.

3. They’re your number one fan

They want what is best for you and if that means reminding you of what is right and wrong in order to achieve your goals, then so be it. They will give you the harshest advice when you don’t to hear it but definitely need to. They will pick you up when you fall and help you get right back on your feet so you can continue to chase your dreams and get what it is that you want.

4. They know you better than anyone else

Since they’ve known you the longest out of anyone else, they have watched you form and grow into the person you are today. That being said they know what’s best for you, and they can have a formed opinion of the things you do and choices you make.

5. Your moods can change with them in an instant

One moment you can be ripping each other’s heads off and in a split second you can be hugging each other reminding each other how important and valuable you all find each other. They’re the only people you can have this type of love/hate relationship with and the only people you can love and be passionately mad at, without cutting them out of your life completely. It’s an odd dynamic, really.

6. They’re the only people you’re forced to love, but genuinely do love

Think of it as an arranged marriage. You meet the person, and you’re forced to love them and spend the rest of eternity with. Isn’t that essentially what family members are to us? It’s an arranged relationship that we had zero part in choosing. But we thank our lucky stars we were matched up with these crazy human beings. We’re forced to love them because that’s what we’re taught, but we want to love them because that too is what we’re taught.

So yes, family can be frustrating. Family can be a burden to us. But family really does mean everything. Family has been there for us since the beginning and they will be with us towards the end. They are the greatest people that we have been blessed to be paired with, and we sometimes question the cure and blessing they are to us all.