One other thing I forgot to add RE: importance of bloodline. Some people are real hung up on "blood" relations and, again, it's a personal thing I guess. But I think family is 100% what you make it and where you find it. My nieces that I spoke of in my other post are technically my step-nieces. But I am closer to them than any of their blood aunts on either side. They are more my family than some of my blood relatives. I think of my closest friends as family. My grandmother raised 8 children, two of which were her stepchildren. She and my grandfather divorced when those two children were toddlers and SHE was the one that got custody of them and raised them as her own. Love doesn't discriminate; people do. Having a "blood" child does not guarantee that they will carry on your legacy anymore than having an adopted child means they won't.
|