Distant, yet closer

Just like everyone else in this world, I have two genetic donors: my father and my mother. From each of these two donors, I have additional groups of people with whom I share genetic coding, groups consisting of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, not to mention the in-laws. Although both sides of the family are from Taiwan(Taipei area, specifically), only my father's side of the family has since emigrated into the United States. The entirety of my mother's side of the family, excluding my mother, still remains in Taiwan, and shows no sign of wanting to move to this day.

For the longest time, I had no sense of family beyond my mother and father, and with only two people to worry about(and seeing as they could more than take care of themselves), I lacked a sense of belonging to anything greater. That is, till I visited Taiwan for the first time.

We(Father, Mother, Yours Truly) do not get along well with my father's side of the family. Although their proximity to us is about 1/270 of the proximity of my mother's side of the family, we are far closer to Mother's family than Fathers. While my father may feel different, seeing as he grew up with his side of the family, I do not feel any familial bonds that connect me to my father's brothers and sister. My cousins seem more like casual friends than anything else. For many reasons, this side is broken.

All my sense of family outside of the nuclear come from my mother's side. I am always eager to visit them in Taiwan when vacation comes along. Interacting with my mother's family truly gives me the feeling of familial bonds. When I am with them, I can understand why people go to such distances for family. My father is closer to my mother's mother than he is to his own. They are the people I willingly invite to stay at our house for months at a time if they could. In their eyes, I can see their openness and welcoming thoughts towards me. I return home(for that is where I consider my home, with my family) as often as I can, willingly shelling out thousands of dollars for airplane tickets every time.

I feel the same as I do with a select few of my closest friends, who I now consider part of my family.
MY family is growing, even though some have passed on.


I understand what family is now, and I will say this:

To keep my family safe, I would destroy the world.