Family is?

I am wondering just what is family? I have been reading books lately that involve children who have little or no contact with their biological parent or have simply been lied to for most of their life. I have recently been given the names of cousins that I didn't even know existed. Are they really family members?

Then there are those people who are part of my soul family. I was once told that soulmates are the souls that were created at the same time. I tend to believe that. Through my life and especially in the last few years I have connected with several people who it seems I have known forever. Oddly, they are closer than some of my biological family are. I have come to believe that family is much more than biology.

I also like the word tribe. Sometimes it seems like a better word than family. I think a tribe is a group of people created with the purpose of helping each other evolve. I am very grateful for the members of my own tribe and for their assistance in learning to move further than I ever have before.

Family is an interesting word created by man to describe a group of people. Most of the people in my own biological family are too busy living their own lives to care about mine. I am going to focus on my soul family because it appears they are in it for the long haul.