A Family of Two

So if you haven’t heard of the Octuplet mom yet, I’m guessing you are either living in cave, have been taking an Amish-esque abstinence from all forms of technology (and if that’s the case, I’m happy to be the one re-popping your cherry!), or have been so drunk for the past week or so that you aren’t even sure you could point out where your own nose is at the moment.  Whatever your reason may be, read up on it here if you must.

It seems that this lady (and her uterus) have inspired all sorts of talk about families around the web lately: how big they should be, and who should get to have them based on their income, marital status, and sanity level.

I am an only child and lived with just my mom for most of my life, so any family that has two parents and/or more than one offspring seems big to me, but that’s not the case for everyone.  Some people have many siblings, some have step-siblings that feel like “real” siblings, some have mounds of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews, and some count grandparents as their “parents.”  Families come in all shapes in sizes, and they don’t even necessarily have to include birth, blood and marital relation.

In my life, I have blood relatives, relatives that came to my family through marriage, relatives that I have lost through divorce, relatives of people that are “not married” to my relatives, and some people that I would like to be officially related to some day.  But none of it would mean anything without my mother.  I lived with her for nineteen years, talked to her virtually everyday for the 7 years I wasn’t living with her, became an adult under her guidance, and told her things that I could never tell anyone else. She understood how I was feeling when no one else did, and is the person that I can’t imagine my life without.  She is the core of my “family.”

So my question for you is this: what is a family to you?  What defines your family?

Just a fun factoid… I always wanted a sibling.  In fact I even told my mom that I wanted an “older sister” on a trip to the gas station many years ago- like we could just pick one up with a bag of m&m’s and a lottery ticket!