All In The Family

This one has been on my mind a lot lately. Family. What do you consider family? Is it the people you are biologically related to? Is it the friends you are closest to that you have bonded with over a period of time? Or, is it a combination of both? For me, it's a little of both, I think. I have always been close with my blood relatives...except for my Dad....you read about him in this blog. We weren't close until the last few years of his life and without a shadow of a doubt, I consider him a part of my family. But I didn't for much of my life because I just didn't know him. 

I have friends that I adore to the moon and back and I consider many of them to be my "brothers and sisters" even if we don't have the same parents. But what IS family? In many cultures the family is the parents, grandparents, kids, aunts, uncles, and children all under one roof. While, I don't think I would survive that concept, I admire the concept of it. 
In modern times, family now can be a household where the grandparents or aunts/uncles raise children. Even more common is a "single-parent" household. Families also include same sex parents.
 I consider all of these family. Basically, to me, family is anyone that has your back. That will be there for you no matter what. Whether they are related to you by blood or not. 
I have an adult friend in her 40s, (I have her permission to discuss this without using names), that just recently discovered that her dad is not her biological father. Does that make him any less her dad? To me it doesn't. She has now met her biological father and some of his(her?) family members now and she was left confused by the whole situation. She knows that they are biologically related. But, she doesn't feel a connection with them since she doesn't know them. Are THEY her family? Yes, and no, I guess. It depends on your/her definition of what family is, I suppose. In my opinion, they would just be her acquaintances unless she chooses to get to know them further. Maybe one day she will see them as her family. Right now, she does not.  

So, as you can, there are so many variables to "the family" dynamic. What do YOU consider family?? I welcome your opinions.