Cousins are friends who already know how crazy your family is.
โ Source Unknown
Sometimes, Richard Bachโs words prove true, โFamily isnโt always blood. Itโs the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.โ ย [Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah]ย Bach also wrote, โThe bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each otherโs life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.โAs described in a Rick Riordan novel, โFamilies are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that weโre related for better or for worseโand try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.โ
For mere mortals,ย Thought Catalogย acknowledges, “You may have purposely severed certain connections because they became too toxic for you, because you finally realized the truth โ that blood doesnโt determine whether or not someone deserves a place inside of your universe.
Despite what you grew up believing, your family members arenโtย alwaysย the people who were inside of the hospital room on the day of your birth. Your family membersย arenโtย alwaysย the people that your genetics bind you to biologically.ย Read more
If the family you’re born into isnโt the one you need,โย Shondalandย suggests,
- Get rid of guilt about disengaging
- Value the people you have
- Read more
- โCaller ID was invented for family screening.โ
- โSiblings are your first frenemies.โ
- ย “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” –ย George Burns
- โThe great advantage of living in a large family is that early lesson of lifeโs essential unfairness.โ โ Nancy Mitford
- โโWell, that escalated quicklyโ is our family motto.โ
- ย โThe capacity for friendship is Godโs way of apologizing for our families.โ–Jay McInerney