Family is Family

Remember all those gatherings, the lunches, the breaks between classes, the moments in the locker room. Think about all the fights, the arguments and disagreements. The times you said you couldn’t take it anymore and you wished it would all go away soon.

The people you weren’t able to tolerate anymore because you had reached that point that everything they did or said was utterly annoying. Look back now, and tell me you don’t miss it. Lie to me if you don’t want to recognize that despite all the bad stuff, that is still part of the best half of your life. Admit that you’re afraid they don’t feel the same, that you can’t bare the idea of losing someone that you hate as much as you love.

Forget about blood, surnames, genetic and legal descriptions, family is not something you can describe or stereotype, it’s something that you just feel inside of you.

I’m not talking about dreamy people or perfect lives, I’m referring to the mess we have to face every day. The moments when even though no one else could find a reason to fight we stuck together and made it happen.

It’s when you don’t have to love that person every single second, or even see her as much as you probably should. It’s the comfort of knowing that a good laugh will eventually come, that even if you are one ocean away they will squeeze you as tight as always the next time they see you, that nothing can tear you apart and that even if it would, it could never be strong enough to erase the story you shared.

It is often said that you can’t choose your family, I beg to differ, because

“Family is family. Whether it's the one you start out with, the one you end up with, or the family you gain along the way”*

* By Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado in Modern Family