Should we change what we mean by the word, family?

I remember when I was in my mid teens I was with my high school boyfriend andnI don’t remember the situation, but I was worried about something to do with a stranger, and my boyfriend said kind of harshly, “why are you worried about him, he is nobody.” The sentence stunned me. The word nobody stunned me. He continued, “we don’t know him, worry about us.” His family was extremely united, like how you think of the Mafia example in your video I guess, but they weren’t killing people. I was raised by a mother who worried about the people waiting at a restaurant for us to finish our dinner so they could sit down and eat. She would tell my father to skip the coffee at the end of the meal. Used to drive my dad crazy. LOL.

I’m not so sure I would change the meaning of the word family, I think the breakdown and difficulty in families today cause a lot of problems, and I would rather focus on that getting better. Plus, family has multiple definitions already. We have our nuclear family and our extended family, and our friend who are like family and we are part of the family of being human. Many Q’s on fluther have many jellies saying they don’t understand why people think blood is thicker than water, but in troubled times it is most likely our family that will come through for us. Will sacrifice for us. At least that is how I look at it, so we should value that committment I think.

At the same time, for me, there is something miraculous about feeling cnnected to everyone. Knowing how similar we are, rather than looking at how dissimilar and caring about all people in that golden rule sense.

It would help if you gave the definition of family as described in the video, for those of us who are not going to watch it. ;)

I redefined family for myself 30 years ago, when my nuclear family was spread out over 5 continents. It was a matter of being with people who loved and accepted me for who I am, who listened to me in those dark moments, who cared enough to check on me if they hadn’t heard from me for a couple weeks, and were brave enough to lovingly confront me if they were concerned about my behavior.

I can’t watch the video as I have a very slow Internet connection. I can however mention what the word ‘family’ means in my language (Afrikaans). The word family means everybody who is blood related to me and who are married to blood relatives of mine. That includes aunts, uncles, cousins etc. We use the word “Gesin” for immediate family members (Mother, Father and children).

It would be great if you could summarize the video, then more can answer this question.

Aw, that was sweet ETpro. Some of the people I love are more my family than my own family, truth.

@all It’s basically stating that we sometimes take from the rest of the world to take care of our family unit, the ones we love in our households, but that we should expand that definition to include those who love us without judgement. Make them part of our family to reduce poverty and homelessness, among other things.

Thanks, @KNOWITALL .:)

Many of us already accepted that there are many different ways to define family.

I didn’t watch the video either but I can tell you, as a fair housing trainer, teaching people not to discriminate on the basis of familial status has broadened my definition of “family.”

To all who wanted a transcript, I will do my best to accommodate next time. There was none posted with the Upworthy article or the YouTube video. Nonetheless, I felt it was a subject worthy of discussion. I will reply to each of you tomorrow (later today). The hour is too late now.

@ETpro No one wants a transcript – a lengthy preamble is every bit as unreadable as a nonexistent one. But you are asking a question that has no context unless one watches a video. Some of us can’t or won’t do that. All you had to do is suggest that a family can be a, b, or c, and then ask your question. By providing no context, you invite people to assume that the video says the most obvious thing imaginable: that families need not be made of blood relatives. If that’s not the point of the video, it would mean a considerable derail for your question before you even begin.

@glacial I’ll try, next time, so supply at least an Introduction in text when I have to post a video.