Family

I have never understood what it is about family. What it is that makes us need one. Is it the feeling of emotional intimacy? Is it more some kind of physical closeness? A blood connection?

I am blessed. I am lucky. I have a family who loves me. They love each other. They are warm, open, giving, and kind. We have no skeletons in our closets. There used to be some problems, but after help, they are all gone now. We are close. I love it.

I know people who have no family. Either by choice or by force. They always seem to be searching for some kind of replacement. Something is missing. They are not whole. They surround themselves with friends, people they can substitute for family. (Don't get me wrong, I do this too...) What is it that makes us act this way?

And then I think of the people who are abused. I had a friend who was badly abused by his mom. She hit him, and screamed at him, and landed him in the hospital on more than one occasion. And yet, he still tried to be a "good boy". He tried so desperatly to make her love him. Tried in vain to make them like a "normal" family. (He is married to a wonderful girl, and his mom is completely out of his life now.)

I have been wondering if family is a concept of society or if it is something natural. Some kind of instinct. Think about it. Some animals, gorillas for instance, stay in large groups their whole lives. Lions send away the male young as soon as they reach maturity. Bears are solitary animals once their young can fend for themselves. Seems to me that we have all kinds of humans too.

I, for one, crave that contact. The emotional intimacy. The sense of physical well-being (by that I mean when I am sick, I want my mommy.) I will never function well without a family. It just makes me wonder. I don't think it makes me weak, but at the same time, I am weak. Just food for thought I guess.