preview

Family As A Family

Decent Essays

Family, All descendants of a common ancestor. Or at least that's how Merriam Webster’s dictionary puts it. Family doesn't necessarily mean blood or relatives. Just because friends aren't related to you by blood doesn’t mean you can’t consider them as family. We all have friends that we’ve known our whole life and treat them as they were our own family. Maybe you were the only child who had a particular friend you considered to be like a sister. Maybe you have an uncle who really isn't your uncle. Whatever the case is you would do pretty much anything for them. Friends are just family you choose after all.
For example, I have “cousins” that I'm not related to. Does that make us any less of a family? No. We care for them as they were our own blood. Just recently we went on a family trip with them to Austin. According to “Can Close Friends substitute family?” I am not alone on recruiting friends or non-relatives as family. The author of the article got 305 comments on people who said they also do this. “Even Today's parents seem to embrace honorary designations” (2014, March 19). Some examples of designated members are “auntie” or “uncle”. The article also says, "Those terms can act as road markers, showing how everyone fits together.”, which makes sense for children. It seems to help their children tell who they can trust and guide them, which ties into The Joy Luck club. So what is an expert's definition of family?“It's people with a secure attachment to your child,”(2014,

Get Access