Hah, it's not like all Southerners are all big happy families. (OH HELL NO.) And there's a tradition that predates coming to this country (in the Scottish traditions, and from what I'm told in the traditions also of some of the neighboring Native tribes) of adoption as adults. Where long-time friendship becomes equal to, or even surpassing, blood-ties. It's kinship, and it matters just as much.
I think some regions/cultures are awfully hung up on blood ties, and that's why -- no matter how often I repeated it in the post -- some replies are still assuming that non-blood-ties are somehow second-best. They're not. They're equal, and if your important family ties are all based on friendships you've created, then that becomes part of your exchange. I have one blood-sister, but when asked, I mention my elder brothers and elder sister alongside my younger sister, the same way I list about nine aunts and seven uncles, because that's the title they got and they're family, and it doesn't make a difference that they're old college roommates or even friends from the military. Their kids are my cousins, and if you ask me for a count, they're first cousins, because their parents and my parents are close enough to count themselves as siblings.
TL;DR: if you have people that matter to you, that's your family, and all the question is really asking is to demonstrate/illustrate that you have an extended network of People That Matter To You, which for easy shorthand we'll call "family".
I know, a wierd word, but hey, I was thinking fast when I thought it up!
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Date: 4 Apr 2011 05:10 am (UTC)I think some regions/cultures are awfully hung up on blood ties, and that's why -- no matter how often I repeated it in the post -- some replies are still assuming that non-blood-ties are somehow second-best. They're not. They're equal, and if your important family ties are all based on friendships you've created, then that becomes part of your exchange. I have one blood-sister, but when asked, I mention my elder brothers and elder sister alongside my younger sister, the same way I list about nine aunts and seven uncles, because that's the title they got and they're family, and it doesn't make a difference that they're old college roommates or even friends from the military. Their kids are my cousins, and if you ask me for a count, they're first cousins, because their parents and my parents are close enough to count themselves as siblings.
TL;DR: if you have people that matter to you, that's your family, and all the question is really asking is to demonstrate/illustrate that you have an extended network of People That Matter To You, which for easy shorthand we'll call "family".
I know, a wierd word, but hey, I was thinking fast when I thought it up!