❝ Blood is thicker than water...❞

...Is perhaps one of the most misused and misunderstood sayings I've ever heard.

And yet, it's what's been pinned to me everyday of my life.

I wanted to say something, in case any of you are struggling with this. You might think it's silly or baseless. This might not even apply to you, but that doesn't make it any more important to say.

DON'T. EVER. FEEL OBLIGATED TO LOVE YOUR RELATIVES.

Even your parents...

People do this. They cling to genes as if they're the ones that hold you and comfort you, as if circumstantial blood-lines are what protects a bond. They don't. They don't excuse a sin. They don't pardon mistreatment. A blood-line is a cold, scientific tie and if you HAPPEN to end up with people who care and who treat you like a human should be--- then bless you. Bless them.

But if you aren't, please don't force yourself to love. Don't exist in guilt because you don't.

The full saying is this: "Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb."

It's possible to love your friends as your extended family. It's possible to feel nothing at a reunion. 

It happens. You can feel grateful. You can keep in touch, like polite strangers on the street. But to love... to give yourself and your vulnerability to them is all new territory.

I thought of this back when a friend PMed me, torn up because she was shunned by her family for not weeping with them at a funeral.
I think of it now, everyday. Relieve myself from claims of being so truly despicable.

You guys, biology can only go so far. For some, blood relation is a comfort. For others, a burden. But those who fall into either category are no better than or worst than the rest.

You can't rewrite your family tree...

But you can redefine the branches you cling to.