Family

roots
the funny limbs that grow underground
that keep you from falling down
don't you think that you'll need 'em now

Ben Folds - Your Redneck Past

Tis very true! Roots are generally what keep you standing upright and for people who have them, they're a priceless source of happiness. I can't really word it properly, but I think you will know what I'm on about. Sometimes you dont appreciate it or value it as you should.

Because my parents have a dozen siblings, I now have a dozen aunties/uncles and a billion cousins. Because most of my aunties and uncles live interstate or overseas, it's easy to forget about them But they never forget about me. They're always asking about me and interested in how I'm going. It's something I haven't really understood, but now that I'm 23 and having young cousins growing up around the place I can understand it more. Through having so many cousins, I can see a huge difference in each of their personalities and how it links back to my extended family structure. I dont think it's a huge coincidence that all the closest cousins blood-wise (as opposed to half-cousins) share many of the traits that I do. Unsurprisingly they're a lot of the traits I like.

It's really interesting to see just how similar I am to some of my cousins. I have two cousins who have lived overseas or interstate all their lives and I only get to see them every now and again. Despite that, they're still really similar to me. It begs the question how much of it is down to genes and how much to parenting (since both my parents and their parents are similar). There is plenty of evidence of both things having an impact.

But back to the topic of family being friends you can't get rid of. Looking around at people who have and dont have supportive families, there's definitely a huge connection between having a good family and general wellbeing.

Unfortunately I'm too tired at the moment to put the words together properly to express what I'm actually thinking, but you get the idea. This is about when I start realising family rocks and maybe I do want kids after all.