WRF2 : We Are Family Too

My family make me feel like I am the luckiest person alive. I have a beautiful partner and a beautiful daughter. I am privileged to be a parent and a partner. To have other people to support and share the joy and the struggles of life. That each member know that they are cherished and loved, even when there are arguments and difficulties. Its a wonderful thing and to always remember that, you never know how long you have got. Tell the people that are closest that you love them every day just in case.

- Fiona Clarke, Meath

Family mean the world to me, I have stood by them no matter what and always will.
I recently lost the heart of my family. My Mum, she passed away tragically in February, there is not one day that goes by that I don’t think about her.
Family can be hard at times but you know there are always their for you, no matter what. When you grow up and leave home to start a life with you partner, they are you new family. Not that your brothers, sisters or grandparents don’t count any more, of course they do, but you start you own family… you get to watch them grow up, become young adults, and start family of their own, and all you can do is stand by them, no matter what choices they choose.

I’m dedicating this to my wonderful Mum and Brother (R.I.P) forever in my heart.”

- Mags, Dublin

“Family to me isn’t just what you are born into, but the people you take into your life to become part of yours. I have sisters and parents that I love but also friends who are indispensable.

More than that, I’ve a partner who is just that, a man who I want to share my life with regardless of concerns such as marriage or children. Soul mates isn’t a concept I subscribe to, believing that no one can complete you except yourself but for someone to share the journey with, I’d ask for no one else.

So I guess the old expression ‘blood is thicker than water, so harder to get out of the carpets’ holds true slightly. I love my family, but I wouldn’t be the man I am without the family I’ve taken on regardless of how they came to find me.”

- Charles, Cork