Have you ever watched an episode of "The Middle" on ABC or Freeform (aka ABC Family)? I have, and it happens to be one of my family's favorite shows to watch together. I have concluded that we enjoy it so much is because we relate to it. Many times while we are watching, I hear one of my siblings say to me, one of my parents or another sibling, "Oh, that's you!" It is so true, though! I can see myself, one of my parents or another sibling doing whatever the character on the show just did!

Take Axl, for example...

Axl is the oldest of three kids. His teenage self has many times been compared to both my older and younger brother. With the way Axl constantly teases his sister, Sue, I know my sister and I see the relation. Everything either my sister or I do is dorky or crazy to them, no matter how hard we might have worked at it, and it seems really difficult for them to actually show they love us (especially in public!) Axl is the exact same way, and it seems as if seeing it happen on the show makes it understandable. With the current episodes having Axl at college, my family and I have started to see some of the trends we think may come up with my younger brother in his college days. Axl does care about his family. He just is not constantly up to put that on display. I believe that may be a boy thing because I see that in both brothers quite often. Axl desires independence but plenty of times gets slapped in the face (metaphorically) showing him that he still needs his parents to help him out. I believe that happens to my older brother a lot and sometimes me too, honestly. Axl will be Axl, and boys will be boys.

Now, let's take a look at Frankie...

Frankie is a mother of three. My mother is a mother of four. I feel like most mothers want to put on the image that they have it all together, even when they are not together at all. Frankie is a good mom, and I see a lot of her characteristics in my own mother. Frankie is not always the parent who is available for every field trip or volunteer opportunity. She does not have dinner always waiting on the table. She sometimes ends up in a mismatched outfit for work because she got dressed in the dark that morning. None of these things scream "bad mother." They actually scream caring mother with a life. A lot of mothers, Frankie and my mom included, seem to feel that they do not have a life. In reality, they pour themselves into their children. They are driving them to practice or friends houses, keeping updated with teachers, making meals or packing lunches and trying to listen to the same story whichever child has told over and over. It gets tiring. Tiring does not mean bad. If the Hecks were an off the air, real family they would be fantastic people all because Frankie is like glue in their unit of a family and I feel the same way about my mother and my family.

Next, onto Mike...

Mike is the father in the Heck household. He comes across as such a chill, easygoing guy most of the time. I see a lot of Mike in my own father. Mike seems to let Frankie do the constant worrying in the house. He appears to just step aside. Meanwhile, he is just able to hide it better. This is the same with my dad. My dad will tell my mom that it is fine and the kids will all come home when they are supposed to, but he is the one that will not sleep until we all step foot in the house. This reminds me of when Mike had the tracking on all the kids' phones because he was worried about them. Mike is the one that any of the kids seem to call if they are in trouble. This could be car trouble, school trouble, friend trouble, etc. He will pick up and attempt to help you out or drive to wherever you are with minimal questions asked. This is definitely my father. Both Mike and my dad are simple guys that are very proud of their children and their wife. Not much will change in Mike's life on a day to day basis. Anyone can guess the kind of outfit he will wear on whatever given day. This is absolutely my dad. The crazy, fun side can be hidden a lot of times, but both my dad and Mike could always go for a good laugh. Mike and my father are both excellent dads with a big heart.

Brick is an interesting one...

Brick is the youngest Heck child, but he cannot be compared to only one person in my family. Brick is the weird kid of the family. He has little quirks that may seem annoying. I think all my siblings and I have some kind of weird quirk. Some examples may be: biting nails, singing too often, having the TV too loud, twirling hair, shaking a leg when sitting and so on. Quirks may be annoying but that is part of what makes us who we are. The same goes for Brick. Axl and Sue constantly harp on Brick about his quirks, yet the house would not be the same without them. Brick is known for always having a book with him to read. I am the biggest reader in the family, not counting my mother, but both my brothers can also been caught escaping from a social situation to read. Books allow us to leave reality for awhile, so I think they are beneficial for all of us. Brick is one of those characters that we can all easily be a little piece of him.

There is no way we would forget about Sue..

Personally, Sue is my favorite character. Sue is the middle child and the only girl in the family. Sue is very awkward, but that never stops her from talking to people. Sue is very confident in who she is. She acts like she loves what she does at all times, even if it is the crappiest of tasks. Sue is very optimistic and loves quotes, pictures and posters. She likes to plan ahead of time and gets bummed when things do not follow along with the planning. Sue is one that brings a smile to people's faces just by being herself. Others find her funny when, honestly, she is usually a mess. Sue stayed in her awkward stage much longer than expected, but she rocked it. She was never worried about fitting in as long as she was happy with herself. As most of these seem extremely positive, I am in no way trying to brag by saying I see Sue in myself. I actually received "The Sue Heck Award" as my joke award during my senior year of high school swim team. Just like Sue, I may not always be the best at things or even excel at them at all, but that does not stop me from trying.

I was able to match my family to the Hecks, but other families could easily find traits of the Heck family to correlate with themselves. Every episode shows real life. In case you were wondering, the writers of the show do not follow my family around to get their ideas. The Hecks are a wonderfully comparable family from a TV series that should not be missed!