"For me, mine is huge..."

House. Defined as a place you live. A place you reside. A place that holds all your junk. A place that people live in. How many houses have you had? Okay okay, I see you're catching on. Hahaha, I tried to make it so metaphorical and so deep sounding in the beginning. On the real though, how many times can you say you've lived in a HOUSE and not a HOME?

Every single day, after a long day of work, school, whatever it is that we do during the day, we go back to what you would call...a HOUSE. Maybe you don't live in a house. Maybe you live in an apartment. Maybe you live in a condo. Maybe you live in a dorm. Or maybe, you don't have a place to live per say. But somehow, you have a place to reside when you finish your day off. This, my friends, is what you would call a house (or place of rest, those of you who are nit-picky about my use of the word)

But inside this house is what? Furniture. A laptop with Facebook, Gmail, Blogspot & Pandora all open at the same time. People. Not just any people, right? People that you call, family, perhaps friends, or even family friends. But, you don't live alone. Do you? If you said yes, you have neighbors. You're not alone, silly. So you live with your family. What constitutes family for you? People who pay for all the things you need/want/desire. People who gave birth to you & consistantly nag you for everything. People who steal your clothes & uses things without asking you. People who yell all the time because of something so minute. If you see it this way, you, my friend, need to relook at your family & see exactly why you were placed on this Earth with this certain family. Whomever they are, it's amazing what plans the big man upstairs has for you with this family. Now this, is what you can call...a HOME.

You know, blood family doesn't have to be THE family. Maybe your family consist of people you're not even related to. Maybe your family consists of step-whatevers or foster-whatevers. But you know, the love and the care that is brought to your family is the most beautiful thing that is given by the family. Sure you may not see it now, but when you take a step back and look at everything and not consider the words "me" or "i" then you'll see. You'll see what I'm talking about.
For me, mine is huge. It consists of many people that I consider my family. I've got my blood relatives, my brothers and sisters in the community, my friends within Barkada, my longtime friends from high school or longer, my dorm friends. You know, there's just too many to name. My family is what backs me up whenever I need help. My family is the only people I know who won't trade their loyalty to the family for something so unimportant & selfish. My family are the only people I know who will give me advice on things I need to know. I love my family. No matter how much arguing there may be. No matter how much blood, sweat & tears go into my family. No matter how many times I can say "#$@% YOU FOR BEING SO IRRATIONAL". My family knows me, they care for me, they provide for me, they respect me & most importantly, they love me. Take a second to look back at your family, blood, immediate, & extended family. Peace.


-- Danielle Delos Reyes