Family

Today at work I began to think about family. Many people I know are close with so many members of their family. They are close with their aunts, uncles, cousins, and beyond. For me, it's not like that. I am close with my mom, step-dad, little brother, my dad, my step-mom, and my grandparents on my mom's side. My sister chose a path of drugs and stealing, so I'm not really in contact with her.

What happened to all my aunts, uncles, and cousins? They don't really have anything to do with me. Strangely enough this has nothing to do with being a muslim. They are just self-involved people, and they never had much of anything to do with me. Does this make me sad? It used to.

What is the meaning of family anyway? Is it someone who is your blood relation only? My little brother is adopted, and he is the most precious thing to me. He is so special and my mom didn't carry him for nine months. Family is about caring and love. Besides the family I mentioned above, I have many more members.

I have my friends, my muslim sisters. It used to make me sad that I didn't have a sister to talk to, or cousins to hang out with. Alhamdulilah, Allah has put so many more precious family members in my life through Islam. It is through this sisterhood that I feel a complete sense of family. (Of course a husband and some kids will be great too, InshaAllah!)