Essay/Term paper: What family is to me

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Essays

What Family Is To Me

Adam Davis


Since birth, I have grown up with a different concept of family than
most people do. Instead of being born into my biological family, I was adopted
into my given family. I have known I was adopted, for as long as I can remember
because my parents made sure to tell me so, at the earliest age that I could
understand. By adopting me and my sister into the family, my parents showed
that family means love, respect and sacrifice. My adoption gave me a family to
belong to and be loved by.
Love is the first part in any family. I can be defined in more ways
than one. Family love is the strongest type because it is unconditional. This
unconditional love means that no matter what happens my family will still love
me. They have shown this love for twenty years now. And after all the things I
have done wrong, or done badly, my family still shows this unconditional love to
me and to each other.
The second part in a family is respect and trust. Trust is something
that can take years to build, but can be broken very easily. By breaking trust
with a family member one is also breaking respect of the family. The two ideas
go hand in hand. My parents respected me enough to tell me that I was adopted,
instead of lying to me and having me find out later in life that I wasn't their
biological son. This respect that my parents gave me, in turn gave me their
trust. And I gave them the respect and trust that was given to me.
Without sacrifice, a family cannot be. The sacrifices that family
members make for each other show the willingness to be an unselfish part of a
family. Sacrifices also display the love, respect and trust in a family. I
know that even though some of the time it may not seem that my parents would
sacrifice anything for me, I realize that they would do anything for and
everything for me and that I would do the same for them. At times it's the
smallest sacrifices that make the biggest difference in a family.
Families do not have to be biological. Here in Altoona, I have a chosen
family of friends who I consider to be just as close as a family. Among my
chosen family, one can find love, respect and trust, and sacrifice for one
another. As a chosen family we still work the same way that a given family does,
by having a sense of belonging and a sense of love toward each other.