PBS American Portrait

It's the act of supporting one another and loving one another that makes a family your family, not the fact that you were born into it. We are born into families, but as we get older, we can also choose who is family to us. I'm not that close to my family, so my friends are who I rely on. I went through years and years of soul searching and all kinds of... sorting myself out before I realized that what makes a family is love. Sometimes the biological family is not willing to love you unconditionally. But the family you choose is not only willing, but they actively love you unconditionally. We are not biological sisters, but we are family. I never would have thought I would call people not related to me my family. I was in the United States Army, and to me, this is what family looks like. I was supposed to go home for the summer to my chosen family, and I couldn't, but we still talk every day, and we still FaceTime every waking second. It's a family that I couldn't live without but I never expected to have. This chosen family of ours has so much abundant beauty and love, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.