All my life, I've been taught that family comes first. That you need to keep secrets in your family. That your friends will never be able to amount to the value that your family can impart upon you. But when you really sit down and think about it, what does that even mean?
Most of my family has deserted me due to an argument between myself and my mother. Adult wise, 5 people are still involved positively in my life. Yet I still get calls from the other members, condemning me as a person and telling me "Your mother is family, get her back in your life.", without any knowledge of why I don't speak to her. What is family even?
I'll tell you. Family is a system of people that support each other. My family only has 9 biological members anymore, but I have countless friends that I consider family. Reality is accepting what's real. And my reality is that blood ain't thicker than water all the time.