[Wow. On the one hand, he understands in a way - for the father he was raised by for most of his life was not the father he was born to. But little examples like that are in no way fully comparable to an entire group of people having no such biological ties, and making every connection by other means.

Maybe it's a little sad, but it's also quite beautiful, he thinks. Freeing, certainly, to choose the ones you're with rather than feeling obligated to someone based on blood.]

Do you talk about that much with the others here? I think humans take the idea of family by birth for granted, even if we don't all stay with those same families for life. It's different to imagine everything having to be made from the ground up. But... In a good way. Because I know there are a lot of us who place high value on the family we've chosen to be with, related or not.