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hey everyone, i currently doing a course and the part im studying right now is about family structures, i was asked to define "family" i have done this but then it got me thinking about what everyone elses definition of family is
please respond as im very interested
changilass
06-Sep-07, 16:10
My family are the people I care about, be they related or not. :D
My family are the people I care about, be they related or not. :D
Exactly Changi, could not have put it better myself
My family are the people I care about, be they related or not. :D
exactly, well put changilass.
orkneylass
06-Sep-07, 17:25
My family are the people I care about, be they related or not. :D
That would be my definition of a friend. To me family comprises people I am related to by blood ties or marriage, whether I like them or not!
Family are those who either share the same flesh and blood or who are united through marriage.
:)
Andrew
Family are those who either share the same flesh and blood or who are united through marriage.
Andrew
I find that to be a tad 'bookish'...and I suspect I know the book!:roll:
It is sadly restrictive, I have a hugely loving and supportive family..not that many of whom are actually related to me in your terms but they have proved their love for me over many, many years.
I also have the 'org family' and I can tell you something....they are a fine bunch of people who offer all sorts of support in many a crisis and a good shoulder to cry on.
In turn I have a few 'blood and marriage' relatives who, quite frankly 'don't give a monkey's' for family or anything else.
Karia
I totally agree with you Karia...just because we share a blood link with somebody doesn't mean they are actually going to give 2 hoots about us! Family are the people who are there for us no matter when or what!And the org family are there for all of us all the time-whether we want them to be or not lol X
Family are those who either share the same flesh and blood or who are united through marriage.
:)
Andrew
Not alway's dont forget those that are adopted, they become family through union of another kind. :)
Not alway's dont forget those that are adopted, they become family through union of another kind. :)
I am in wholehearted agreement.....
And yes, I think of many close friends as 'family'... rather than flesh & blood folks. I would much rather surround myself with our local bunch of misfits than with some of the people I'm blood related to. And they're often a whole lot more supportive & caring too.
Family are those who either share the same flesh and blood or who are united through marriage.
:)
Andrew
With respect Andrew, your are talking a load of bull, my wife and I have close friends all of us about the same age, and we had families all around the same time, and both our children refer to our friends as their Aunts and Uncles and visa versa with our friends children, now I am not talking about children here, all our kids have kids of their own and still refer to our friends as Aunt and Uncle as do their children also, there are no flesh or blood ties at all, and none of us are united by marriage, this may be a Scottish thing I don't know, but thats the way I see it :confused
To paraphrase another saying:-
"You can choose your family but you cannot choose your relations"
What is so wrong with just being a decent and agreeable human being, with all of the moral codes that exist therein?
I do not need a 'list of rules' to tell me how to co-exist with my fellow man...it comes naturally, borne of my upbringing and life experience.
Am I missing something?
If I am....it sure ain't a loving family!
karia
Camel Spider
06-Sep-07, 22:52
For me it is the people who are important to me, who are always there for me and understand me.
I have friends that I value way way above blood relatives, I consider them my family, whether that is right or wrong I dont know.
NickInTheNorth
06-Sep-07, 22:54
Family.
Well let me see now. They are the ones that stand by you in good times and bad. They offer unconditional love. They like you for you. They share your good times and your bad times, with equal equanimity. All in all they are the ones you can rely on in life.
For anyone fortunate enough to have those in blood relatives, my congratulations.
My family with the exception of my children are all un-related to me. Some I have never even met. Others I have know for decades. Some I have known for only a short time. But my family all know that I am there for them in the best of times and the worst of times. There's even a few on here I already consider family, but they may not know it yet :D
The Op asked for other peoples definition of family. Thats what Andrew gave, his definition of family. Therefore Golach, your "bull" comment is totally unwarranted and entirely disrespectful.
I have to stick up for Golach on this one. I suspect that Andrew's definition may owe much to his job. In any case, Andrew's comments are clearly at the most basic level. They allow nothing in the way of leeway for the individual circumstance. Perhaps that is a by-product of a person who lives a life based on doctrines.
Bonds can be formed between total strangers. This can occur even when these same people share different beliefs. Nobody can tell you who you can consider as your "family" and who you cannot. Perhaps if the "Church" could embrace the same philospophy, they might actually find a few more people coming through their doors.
Camel Spider
06-Sep-07, 22:58
The Op asked for other peoples definition of family. Thats what Andrew gave, his definition of family. Therefore Golach, your "bull" comment is totally unwarranted and entirely disrespectful.
Andrews point was that "family" were people we were blood related to or related to through marriage.
Like Golach I disagree as can be seen from my previous post.
As for the "Bull" comment .. well thats Golachs opinion and he is entitled to it.
Humble is for people who cant .. ;)
My daughter being a only child and her father a only child has lots of Aunties and Uncles who are close friends of ours rather than call a person example Linda its Auntie Linda (a close friend of mine )
Also families are lovely but in some cases can be disfunctional they are all always the ones who fall out and it can pass from generation to generation and cause a great deal of grief
It only takes a family death or wedding to sort it out oh jimmy is no getting a cord or cousin maggie wasna asked to the whole wedding and maybe the next door neighbour who was closer to them than anybody has been asked riot !!! Now a divorce in the family I could talk for ages on Ash beats a funeral and wedding hands down !!!!
I hold my family dear but oh !!! the person who is stuck in the middle comes off the worst
Lolabelle
07-Sep-07, 06:14
My family are the people I care about, be they related or not. :D
Exactly, I may have relations who don't act like or want to be family. It's all relative, lol.
I class family as those that are near & dear to me, I dont necessarily class those im related to as family either I think they have to earn that title & i certainly dont class my in -laws as family[evil]
changilass
07-Sep-07, 17:30
Family are those who either share the same flesh and blood or who are united through marriage.
:)
Andrew
This is a very simplistic view Andrew. It does not take into account fostered or adopted children who are as much a part of the family as any flesh and blood relations. If this is what your particular religion preaches then I am happy to have nothing to do with it [disgust]
family to me is the ones that you would never hurt or let be hurt wheather they are blood related or not as the saying goes friends are the family we pick ourselves. but also my real family my mum dad and 2 sister mean the world to me as do my own 3 kids and partner, so really anyone thats a good friend is part of your family
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