First things first, I 100% agree with the writer Jane Howard. I also believe that it doesn’t matter what you call it, as long as you have one. I just call it my family. My family is built off of two types of people, my immediate family and my closet friends which I consider family. I have a big family but inside that inner circle it’s only my immediate family which is my mom, my grandfather, my aunt, her husband, and their three kids in which I have helped raise. I am an only child raised by a single mother with the help of my grandfather, aunt and her husband. So they basically filled that father figure spot for me and helped molding me into who I am today, which is why they are a part of my family.

Like I said earlier, I was an only child and my first cousin wasn’t born until I was 13 so before that I felt like I needed to have a lot of friends to be happy. As time went by and friends came and went, there was a group of friends that became family. My male friends became my brothers. Not just anyone can join my family, my brothers became my brothers because we’ve been friends for over 15 years on average and we’ve be there for each other through thick and thin.

My family is my clan, network, tribe, or whatever you want to call it.