When someone hears the word “family” most reminisce of holidays spent with siblings and parents, of opening presents and delicious meals, of blue-haired, cheek squeezing grandparents, and celebrations of life’s monuments. In Brenda Almond’s book The Fragmenting Family, “For many people, the most plausible starting point for any [family] analysis is biological…Biology makes a reasonable starting point for understanding the concept of a family simply because the family is a ubiquitous social institution” (9). In the traditional sense, “family” has meant a blood-related relative or a group of individuals brought together through marriage. Today this word carries several different meanings and carries various sociolinguistic insinuations. I consider …show more content…
For example, this could consist of siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, and others. With the social foundation of marriage constantly evolving and changing, notions of a family are also destined to be ever changing. This created a different meaning for everyone. This would include families that have grown without relation to blood or marriage. This could be a family that grew through adoption; parents that love their adopted children as if they were their own flesh and blood. These “family” members could be their most beloved friends or even impending life partners. These unique and indestructible bonds created are possibly stronger than those shared by an immediate family. After much research some compelling information was established, “[Several] types of family networks were found, with an unequal emphasis on partners, children, siblings, blood relatives, and friends, … [people] develop a diversity of family networks beyond spouses and children” (Girardin, et al. 732). The general public should not choose who is to be considered family; it should be acknowledged and even encouraged for people to reflect on their best friends and companions as a family, even if they are not linked because of blood or