Family is Not About Blood

Take a moment and think of those who you consider to be your family? Is it purely defined by just your immediate family? Or perhaps those "related" to you by blood or marriage. Family is much more than either of those. It's the people in your life that treat you with respect, kindness and love.

​I've heard so many sad stories of "families" who disengage from their adult child when the child doesn't live the life they wanted for them. The countless amount of suicides by children kicked out of their home when their parents learned of their sexual orientation to only suffer on the streets, homeless, alone and scared.

Suicide becomes the way out for these youth. A tragedy that will never make sense. For the majority, a child is brought into this world out of love. Either through intimacy, adoption or insemination, the child was desired, to be loved as part of a family. When the child doesn't become who the caregiver wants them to be, why is it so easy to write that person out of their life? Sexual orientation is just one point of difference that creates fear in others.   

Think about the people around you. Is there anyone you know that doesn't talk about their family? Perhaps they don't have family living in the same area? Perhaps they do but they're not invited to family events. There are so many points of disagreement these days that it's easy to find conflict with the people that say they love you the most. Don't let the absence of shared blood get in the way of identifying who really cares about you OR who you really care about. 

Family is not about blood. Don't count your worth by who in your family loves you today! Love yourself and you never have to look far when you need a pick me up!  Don't forget to look for those that don't have others. While we might be the main character in our lives, we have a chance to be the supporting character in the lives of others. 

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