Member-only story
We Are Family
I’ve been thinking a lot about family lately. I have been lucky enough to be born into a family full of love. I couldn’t ask for better parents and grandparents, but there are so many people who aren’t this lucky.
The woman I was privileged to have been able to call my friend, was not born into the same family as me. She was a sister to me in everything except blood. She was born to parents who were not only unloving, but were downright abusive, and she bore the scars of that beginning long after she cut off contact with them.
RELEARN
When she came into our family, she almost had to try and relearn what a true family was like. She would constantly apologise, just in case anything she said might lead to one of us hating her (her words, not mine). The scars of that upbringing left her with some serious issues, which she fought for years to overcome, and while she was able to cross some major obstacles, I am sad to say that she lost the fight in October 2017.
FLAWED
I still find it hard to believe that it’s been almost four years since she passed.
However, in that time of reflection, I have come to realise that the definition of the word ‘family’ is flawed.
