A FAMILY is anyone related by blood; a theory quite contrary to what many have accepted for themselves. There are a few deviations of this definition/ description to which persons have attached themselves to; by extension one can become family by means of adoption. However despite this we'll keep focused on the primary interpretation that all families are blood related.
My brother's wife is my sister-in-law and my sister's husband is my brother-in-law, not blood related but in relation to marriage on family is legally joined to another by virtue of knots becoming tied. Thus for the relationships aforementioned my 'in-law' relatives are those that I am related to through the marriage of a blood relative. Personally this level of technicality is acceptable for basic understanding but it's when my uncle gets married to a woman already with kids. Who are they to me?! This is the fundamental of rocket science: the basis on which sh*t gets really complicated real fast.
The other day myself and a well informed friend of mine were discussing relatives. I posed a question to her seen that she is in fact the more informed one. She was asked, "Who would my cousin's mother be to me if she isn't my aunt?" But before I give her response it should be known that she has been a fan and a great interpreter of family gibberish. She replied, "Your cousin." But I, even being the least informed was the least gullible: wouldn't take cousin for the answer. I knew from prior knowledge that in order for someone to be MY cousin he/she would have to be MY blood relative (pay close attention to the ownership). After several attempts to clarify her response the question was rephrased and reposed. "Who would my cousin's (the child of my uncle) mother whom is married to my uncle be to me?"
PAUSE...
You see how complicated that looks? Now say it out aloud and you along with bystanders and passers-by will be second guessing your sanity. Already acknowledging that some might blame me for asking the question so puzzling my defence is that I was indeed extremely puzzled and desired extreme clarity. And who was more convenient to turn to for simplicity but the one who has previously deciphered complicated family relations to me. Furthermore I beg to take credit myself for expressing EXTREME complication in a slightly complicated way.
There is also the issue of cousin classification. They are categorized in terms of generation.
- 1st Cousins
- 2nd Cousins
- 3rd Cousins
And I assume the list goes on and on but from my understanding not many persons take cousins into consideration after the 3rd generation saying "the blood has been watered down by then" thus ruling out incest and overlooking family relation. Your 1st cousin is your aunt's child, 2nd; your 1st cousin child and 3rd would ultimately be that 2nd cousin's child.
My stepmother and father are good to me; quite the contrary, they are the wife and husband of my father and mother respectively. But what about when STEPS get real hard to climb that your mind struggles keep up?! Let us take for an instant my stepmother's sister: are we of any relation? If all rules were to remain constant then this woman mentioned would be my stepaunt. And is there even such a thing? Never heard of it.
Family can be made possible either by blood, marriage or adoption. Genesis gives a semi-detailed account of the creation story where in the beginning on the seventh and final day of creation God created man; Adam and from Adam he formed Eve. That's the foundation of family I have grown to accept, where from one woman and one man a multitude of generations were generated. It's however no condemnation for one to struggle with a little complexity but the complication and inconsistency of family create so much uncertainties, it's unacceptable.
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