Happy Families: Not Just A Game

Quite a while back, I saw a rather interesting episode of Ugly Betty. Its thirty minute lifespan questioned the very essence of the concept of family and prodded intriguing questions about what really makes a family a family.
After the customary shenanigans were undertaken like any good sitcom/soap, the closing scene zoomed in on America Ferrera, who was sitting and contemplating beneath the summer moon.
Family, she thought, is not always made of blood-related people. You are not tied to family by blood but love. Your neighbour, your teacher, your best friend… all these little people in your life who make a big difference, though not even distantly related to you, can be a part of that conglomeration of love, that we call family. Families can be eccentric but what makes it a family is the fact that they accept you for who you are and don't ask you to change even for the world.
So as the credits rolled past the screen, I sat there lost in thought with a hint of a smile on my face. There was something about that message- the tone, the style of expression, the message itself?- that flickered into existence like a candle of truth.
True, they say your immediate family is 'your family' as they love you, care for you, understand your every thought and emotion, know you more than you know yourself and encourages you all the way, believing you are capable of accomplishing the impossible. The trust they harbour is impenetrable.
Yet not every family is the dream family that seems to worm its way into every fairytale.
But sometimes, if you feel deserted and alone and you feel alien in your dysfunctional family, you can always depend upon your 'family'; your true friends, your dog or even like in Ugly Betty, your gay work colleague. They'll always be there lending their hand, their shoulder and their heart at your disposal.
Your true family is the one that says you don't need to change the person you are. They accept you without any grudges and they believe and have faith in you. Courtesy is not a word they know but they do have dictionaries with the phrases 'eternal friendship', 'make yourself at home' and 'I truly love you' and sometimes call you their son/daughter absent-mindedly. They may scold you for raiding their fridge and you'd probably know their pantry more than you do yours.
Families are more than a group of tight knit blood relatives who spend their lives with each other. They are like little units of love and friendship consisting of any possible member that make up this world, a little love at a time.