Who are the people you call to at 2 AM? Who are the people you joke to about the latest political decisions? Who are the people who are your 24 per 7 ‘911’? Well, those people rightfully earn their “Mi Familia” title from you! They are what you call your family. Spanish for ‘my family’, Mi Familia doesn’t have to be the people that biologically gives you birth or is related to you (though, I hope you really do love your nuclear family, too!). Although sometimes people that you call as family might live a thousand miles away from you, usually, it’s the people that live just around the corner or even right within your zone. This is where you find shelter, called home.
A home within a house; more than just a mere living space, but rather a place of hearth and solace. Under a roof, virtually or literally, you find your family in your own home. The quiet library with its funny librarian. Check. The outrageously noisy delicious fast food restaurant that you can’t resist buying that warm, crispy fries with that genius computer whiz waiter. Check. The bridge near the river with the grandpa who teaches sign language. Check. The ordinary ol’ house with the three mini versions of you, quarrelling and bickering like always. Of course, check! Though some might miss this, a home is not necessarily a place where you live. It’s somewhere where you can cry and laugh and just pour everything out without feeling a slightest bit of doubt; a place where you spend millions of your time and feel like the perfect puzzle piece. It doesn’t have to be that grand fancy facade that just blinds you with that shimmering sun-kissed gold walls and ceilings filled with butlers and “highly regarded A-list VVIPs” you see in movies, like, hello? We’re no kings and queens! You don’t even have to have that magnificent marble staircase (or even a set of stairs, really) that makes you trip every time you want to have a mouthful of brownies in the kitchen down below. All you need are simply people who you can proudly call as your family wherever it may be. That’s enough.
Just imagine this. You bake a delicious lemon meringue pie and dial some numbers your thumbs have memorized fairly well. You waited for what seemed like a lifetime. Finally, the doorbell rings and you can’t ever take off that beautiful smile off your face. “Welcome, Mi Familia!”
