How do you define a family? Well, the princeton dictionary describes it as:
"a primary social group. parents and children"
How do you define my family? The easy answer is that I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. The more complicated answer is that I have 3 brothers, 1 sister and my sister in law who I have known my entire life. THe full answer is a lot longer.
My mother had my eldest brother T with her first husband. My father had my sister C and my brother M with his first wife. My parents met and had two happy accidents, myself and my youngest brother Jo. My sister in law Ja was my and my brother Jo's babysitter and was in love with y oldest brother T from the first time she saw him and his long eyelashes.
So, a family of steps and halves, I hear you say. Well, I suppose, technically yes. However, we never thought of each other like that. C is my sister as much as J is my brother. The fact that her mother was different from mine and she didn't live with us was just as it was.