Family

i read this gem in someone's blogs(i tried hard to find that "someone" to give credits here, no success so far) :
"Family is not always blood relations - its who you choose to love, care for and make your responsibility."

Pretty simple yet so deep.

I have been adopted as family by many people beside my biological parents and i am grateful beyond words to all those kind people. But when i think about it, the truth is that these great folks really had no business doing what they did - they are mostly friends and extended family for example. For a long time i had no real explanation for it until i read this quote. I was by no means special in any way, in fact, i am pretty sure i was a liability to most folks close to me (as childhood friends and kinfolk would attest ;)). As i grew up, i doubted the usual suspects - like treating people with respect and being kind and all that. But then you come across relationships going down the dumps for no explicable reason whatsoever. So it wasn't just about being nice to people or vice versa that made them special.

This quote tied it all together for me - its about choosing and making a special few among the many people you know, your own responsibility. Being a blood relation is as good a reason as any other. In this "family", you have acceptance for who you are, caring and you are their responsibility.

I run these words in my head everytime i have a disagreement with a loved one. And i did get answers to some perplexing problems this way. If the relationship was a choice i made, then i also have the responsibility to make it work. What follows is simple. I work at it instead of giving up on it.