You probably answered the question above you: your friends, perhaps your sorority sisters or fraternity brothers, or your best friend for many years or your childhood best friend. However, most of you would have answered something along the lines of mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, niece, grandparents. Family.

I'm not one to be all cliche-like with these articles, but this is something that has been on my heart for months. I've been holding it in because it just hasn't been the right timing, but God's telling me to let it all out. So here it goes.

Family is something that many of us hold close to our hearts. It's something that we value deeply. While it's something we value deeply, we can all admit that not every family is the perfect family. They may get on your nerves every so often, but that's what family is about. As long as you love each other once your head hits the pillow, that's all that matters.

Sometimes, however, your family decides to overstep their bounds, take a step too far. Someone doesn't like something about the other person, someone did something they didn't approve of and now they will forevermore hold a grudge against them, someone now has different beliefs than what they grew up and the other(s) don't approve. We all have our flaws, and that's okay. However, when that begins to get in the way of our relationship with that person, that's where the problems start. It happens in almost every family. A trend that I've been noticing is the "in-law" relationships are especially tricky because of the things I mentioned above. Yes, there is the stereotypical mother-in-law (which can sometimes be the father-in-law in some families). Yes, maybe they did something that wasn't particularly appropriate or acceptable. Heck, maybe YOU did something and either you haven't realized it yet or you're just too stubborn to admit your wrongdoings. Fact of the matter is, these issues begin to grow and pile up on one another and then before you know it it's one person of the family against the others, or one side versus the other. Long story short: things can get really, really ugly.

FOLKS. HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR ALL OF THAT NONSENSE!!!

What happens when your loved ones leave sooner than expected? What happens when God decides the time is now to take them away from this world? What happens when those arguments, those things that were said that you regret, or the things left unsaid, you can never go back to them and fix it? What do you do when you face an adverse and tragic time where you SHOULD come together as a family, yet that won't happen because of petty disagreements and differences between each other? Who do you turn to?

Let me repeat myself: life is too short for all of that nonsense.

Put your problems aside. Work out your issues if you need to, whether they be issues with other people or maybe issues deep inside your heart that you haven't realized yet. What doesn't matter is who did what or who said what. What does matter is that all of you have something in common: you lost someone you loved. As bad as it is to look at it from that perspective, you have to realize that you all have to come together to celebrate their life. I'm not saying you have to be best friends and hold hands, but remain cordial with each other. The last thing anyone needs in a time like this is fighting of any sort.

Life is too short for all of that nonsense.

Do you finally get it now?

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Focus on what really matters.