Defining Friendship and Family

The one thing about the English language, that you have to get down quickly, is the definitions of things.  Some words can sound the same, but have different meanings.  Some words actually have meanings, but mean different things to different people.  The best example, is friendship and family.

Friend:

 a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.

Family:

a. A fundamental social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.
b. Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place.

Fact is, Family is seen as something more, a blood tie that grants certain bonds right off the bat.  The funny thing is, I really can’t find a definition that takes that into account online.

George Carlin once said:

The truth is, obedience and respect should not be granted automatically. They should be earned. They should be based on the parents' performance. Some parents deserve respect. Most of them don't. Period.

In some places it seems that there is this thing I mentioned, families teach their young to stick together no matter what.  Blood is thicker than water.  Yet in today’s age, it’s the families that do the worst of the shafting.  I’ve seen it all.  Parents stealing from kids, kids stealing from parents, lies, deceit, flat out anarchy.  There’s nothing worse than a grown man who can milk his aged parents for money, no matter how much he’s lied, by squirting some fake tears.  And don’t get me started on teenagers having kids, passing the child off on grandparents....  Respect has to be earned, no matter what, from all sides.

The bonds of family seem to be thrust onto some people from the get go.  But friends, true friends, are truly something earned.  But the word friend just means mutual affection....  Friendship itself goes far beyond simple affection.  Its deep trust, it’s the willingness to be there, the caring, the concern....  No one understands the lack of good definition of friendship other than me.

I’ve often called my friends my family, simply because the term ‘friend’ just isn’t defined well enough.  But they are something far more than family to me.  There’s a bond, a trust, that just doesn’t exist within any family I ever had...until I married my wife.  But then...she’s my best friend.  For the first time, I truly feel I have a part of the definition of what a family is supposed to be.  Long-term commitments, trust, and most importantly, respect.  I have found every good thing I have ever gotten from my friends and turned it into the perfect definition of a family.

So yeah, my point.  In the English language, we use adjectives to really say what we mean.  It can be confusing beyond any comprehension.  But we get by.  With my family of friends, the true friend which is my wife, and all the acquaintances that have ever garnered my respect to be a friend for a spell, I understand all too well about what it means to be a friend of someone, no matter what the definition tries to tell me.