It’s no secret. I’ve had and still have a very problematic relationship with the concept of family. My biggest problem with it is its assumption that sharing the same blood with someone else is a strong enough motivation to do good and expect goodness in return from that person. The cliche “blood is thicker than water,” I recently learned, is possibly misunderstood. Water here refers to the water of the placenta, while blood refers to blood that flows during battle. What the cliche means is that our ties with people we went through the many wars of life with is stronger than our ties with those we share a common mother or ancestry. Aside from my father, mother, sisters, pets, several blood relatives, my family has been a fluid unit whose members have changed as I changed. I like this idea. The wars of my life will change and so naturally, my band of soldiers will too. I open myself up to the wider world. Everyone and anyone could be part of my family. And isn’t that the goal? To see beyond our immediate social group and to look for love and compassion in places least expected.