The Definition of Family to Me

Webster's Pocket Dictionary gives the following definitions for the word, "family".

1. parents and their children
2. relatives
3. lineage
4. group of related things

Of coarse Webster's is only stateing facts with no emotion as it is a reffrence manual.
Everyone has their own definition of family and naturally so do I.
Thing is that the word family is not such a good description of the folks I call Family!
I preffer to use the term,"My People" because as a child growing up I didn't know many members of my family very well and some I still don't know at all. But I did recognize that being a part of Family, My People, or whatever word you want to use, was a vital and missing part of my life and there for became my life long ambition. I was determend to find and be with ,"MY PEOPLE"! I was about 8 years old when I made that promise to my self. I spent the better part of my 40 years following that goal, all the while driven to do it by some deep unseen force that would not let me stop untill I was successful.
Strange, when little kids have som e crazy idea or dream it ussually is something like, I want to be a fireman or I want a puppy or even a dragon, not when I grow up I want to be with my family!
Why don't healthy and balanced children ever set goals like that? Because they are born in to it and it is strong constant that is almost like breathing, kids just don't think that way normally.
Knowing that, you would think that it wouldn't be a goal that would be difficult to achieve. Wrong! I really did spend my entire life trying despatretley to be with my people! I wanted it for so long and so badly that I had some how, gradually given up in side, that I would ever find it. So to my surprize, when I realized that I had come to be with my people, I was upset at myself for not recognizing a lifetime goal and truley appreciating it. But I did see it and I celebrate the goodness of it every minute of every day now!
Kind of hard to explain how good it feels to know that there are a group or groups of folks out there who know who I am and where I came from, and the love me any way. I also struggle with describing what it does to a person's world to be accepted and to belong some where to people who call you their own. You could not imagine and I fail to find words that could say.
With this, I am also able to see my past and all the people in it for what and who they are. My heart aches with it all and I am over whelmed.