It matters to me.
Being almost 26 you unintentionally start thinking that ‘maybe it is time to build a family’. That could be because I come from a pretty conservative family, or because society in my country has the life cycle set up like this, I can’t tell for sure. However, what I know for certain, is that I already have a family that I love and would die for (I actually caught myself thinking one day that I would absolutely, if I had to ever choose, die for my family.. but that’s another story).
What I am trying to say is that no one ever needs to feel the pressure of building or starting their own family when they already have one. I am lucky to have both parents and two sisters whom I love no matter how stubborn, how different, how wrong, or how embarrassing they might be.
It is sad to admit that the capacity of love I have for them I only acknowledge when I am away from them for a long time but the fact that I do know it now makes me happy. I can be mad at them for something they do or say, but I can never stop loving them no matter how much some of their actions hurt.
My sister and I would fight a lot (and I think it was mostly me being an older bitchy sister). But when I returned home from my exchange year we got so much closer we never fought again, ever since. My little sister, even without remembering me much when she was a baby, would still dance and sing with me when I was visiting home during my college breaks. It is impossible to describe the importance of love and connection that siblings have — it is truly the strongest bond anyone can have (from what I’ve experienced and seen in my life).
So if you are in a bad relationship with your family or have any misunderstanding, go away for awhile and then see for yourself how much you love them and how much they love you.
P.S. dropped no tear whatsoever while writing this…