Family and what it should be

What is family? Is it a mother, father, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, or any combination of those? Or is there a way that you can choose your family? I believe that family should be something true and connected. To be true you have got to be there for them no matter what. No matter what they believe or their personal life choices. Family is an important part of life. When you start out life, family is those that are there for you taking care of you and guiding you as you grow. Later in life you get some choice, who your husband/wife is, and from that comes an extended family. But what happens when your family does you wrong and stabs you in the back? Do you get a choice then? I believe that family goes deeper than blood, deeper than who raised you and took care of you. Deeper than who guided you through your adolescent years. As I said family is about being there and being true. Family shouldn't abandon you in a time of need. No, I take that back, family wont abandon you in your time of need. True family isn't all blood ties, for some people that does play a strong role, but it's not all that it is about. Family is something more. Most of us have friends who we call brothers and sisters, and those people have done something for us in a time of need that proved their loyalty and their right to have that title. When blood isn't enough there are always other forms of family. This is where you get to choose. You will have friends that become aunts and uncles to your children, paternal figures that aren't necessarily related but will become grandma/grandpa to your children in some form, people in your life that you wish you were related to by blood but your not. As children when we find these people we often prick our fingers and become blood brothers/sisters that way, but later in life you realize you don't need that. All you need is to know that they are there and always will be no matter what choice you make, even if they don't quite agree, or where you go, even thousands of miles away. That is what real family is, not fake, not backstabbing, Always with your best interest in mind. That is real family.