How do you form meaningful relationships with a family you didn’t grow up with? The answer, I had come to see at last, was this: you can’t. You might think that as you grow up, it gets easier. To make friends with your siblings, I mean. You age. You mature. You harden from that adorable, irritating little bag they have to carry around into something resembling a human adult. When that happens, you get to take your seat at that proverbial table. Right? Wrong. That gap might shrink, but it will never close altogether. You’re left with one option: Build your own family. Choose your own identity.
