You have people that you grow up with for a major part of your life with similar problems and sometimes you can talk to them and they can be more understanding than talking to your blood relatives. These people don’t start out as your family, but as friends. Your relationship builds over time; your not born into this type of family, instead you build it. Therefore, you don’t have to be bound by blood to be family because of friends you grow up with who go through the same frustrations as you, who can understand you better and the people that you go to school with from elementary school to college whom you laugh with, do classwork with, and make memories with.

One reason the friends you grow up with can understand you better is you both have similar frustrations going on in school and at home. You both have feelings flowing through you and know what it feels like when people say certain things and how you feel in certain situations; in other words, you build up a strong connection on an emotional level. Family voices concerns, takes care of each other, and works toward a common goal of trust and communication, according to to the Odyssey Online website (“We don’t have to be blood to be family”). This quote is saying that your family works toward a common goal of trust and communication. Some people might say this is not true, and that family has to be people bound by blood but these are people who possibly have not had the pleasure of growing up with friends and becoming part of their family and vice-versa. However, if they were to open up to other people then many opposing this idea would see that blood is not the only factor in determining who is family.

A second reason is that you have people that you go to school with from elementary school to college. You spend time with them, so you may not have a deep emotional connection but you guys spend time together in a similar environment. When you get to know each other, you start having fun like going to the movies, going to amusement parks, and making memories. It’s at those times that you think each other as family. According to the Odyssey Online website, “Family is not just your blood relatives, but people who help us grow and shape us” (“We don’t have to be blood to be family”). This quote is saying that family isn't bound by blood, but are people who shape us to be the people we are when we grow up. Some people might say people at school are just people you hang out with because you guys see each other in class every week and think nothing of it, but it’s not relevant for every person you go to school with. Sometimes it’s certain people that you end up connecting with and eventually you end up considering them as family.

You don’t have to be bound by blood to be family because of friends you grow up with who go through the same frustrations as you, who can understand you better and the people that you go to school with from elementary school to college whom you laugh with, do classwork with, and make memories with. Family is usually thought of your bloodline and not your relationship with people not bound by your blood. When you think family, you think someone you can trust and people that you can laugh with and never get tired of. If you considered family as not just people bound by blood you would have an even closer bound to the people you talk to. Family was never just blood bound, it’s also a bond between people you’ve grew up with, people you went to school with, people who make you laugh, who can cheer you up when you're down, and who you can always trust.

Sincerely,

Nick