"Family" is one of my favorite words. It's one of my favorite words because it describes the people who are always there for you. People that you see every day, all day. As you get older, you realize that these are the people who will mean the most to you. You'll learn that everybody's family is different. Including mine.

Growing up, I lived in a two family house with my mom, my dad, my aunt and my two older cousins. Since the day that I was born it's been that way. My uncle died way before I was born so that had a big impact on our lives. Let's just say that my house was never quite. I used to always wonder why other people only lived with their parents and siblings and why I lived with more people than them. I used to think that it was weird. That going home to five other people was weird, a house that was really two houses was weird, running through a door and up the stairs to another house was weird, that the endless noise in the house was weird and that other families were weird. I guess I was confused as to why the people that I knew, why their families weren't like mine. I always thought that everyone's family was the same. Turns out, that's not true. There's a difference between my family and yours.

To you, your cousins are just your cousins but to me, they are my older sisters. They've always been like that and they always will be. Since the day my mom was pregnant with me they would rub her stomach and talk to her belly thinking that I could hear them. Then when I was born, they never let anybody else hold me in the hospital and had to be bribed to leave the room. I have a 13 year age difference with one and a 5 year age difference with the other, but that never mattered to me. It still doesn't. I always forget about that because it's not important to me. Only they are. No matter how many times one of them sets the kitchen on fire with us in it and no matter how many times the other one plays electric guitar at one in the morning; I will always consider them to be my siblings. To other people this might seem strange but to me, it's my normal.

Going through school, in classes we were always asked to talk about our family. Whenever I would talk about mine, I would get weird looks like "why does this girl always talk about her cousins?" and "why doesn't she just live with her mom and dad?" I always got upset. I got upset at the kids in my class because they weren't understanding what I was saying. They couldn't understand the way that my family was but I've learned that it's okay. It's okay for them to not understand. It's okay if they don't. Not everybody is going to so I don't let it bother me anymore. I embrace my family and I embrace the way that I grew up.

I've lived in the same big house until my freshmen year of high school when my parents and my aunt sold our house. This house is still my favorite place because it's where all of our memories are, where all the big parties were held and all around the best place to be. But it was time for us start new chapters so that's what we did. Adjusting from living in a house with five people to living in one with just two other people took quite some time. It was weird and hard. It was weird because it was much quieter and not much was happening and it was hard because it got kind of lonely. See the thing is, that even though we all weren't living together, we still saw each other all the time when we went to visit one another. I'm now 3,000 miles away from them (excluding my parents) but our bond is still the same and that's what matters the most.

I always used to think that we were different and as I grew up, I knew we were different. I knew that my family was unlike others. I knew that I would be coming home to a house full of people when others only went home to houses filled with two. I knew that when somebody was left home alone, I would never be because somebody was always there. I knew that unless you knew our full story, then you wouldn't quite fully understand us.

If you're young and you wonder about why your family is the way that they are, just remember that everybody won't be the same. So instead of spending your days trying to figure out why people are the way that they are, be proud of the relationship that you have with your family. Be proud of how you grew up and be proud of the people you're surrounded with.

At the end of the day, your family is your family and if they are different or weird, don't hide it; embrace it.