Families can either make you or break you, or maybe do a little bit of both

Families. They are the best, aren’t they? The one bunch of people bound together by ties of blood or marriage, who stand by you no matter what.



The mother, who forgives her son his decades of neglect, because in her eyes he can do no wrong. The father who thinks nothing of liquidating his life savings so that his daughter can go to university abroad. The wife who stands silently by her husband in the worst of times because it would never occur to her to bail and run.



The husband who spends months planning a surprise party for his wife as a landmark birthday approaches. The aunt who steps in when mom has passed on and the children need a mother-figure in their lives. The kids who patiently explain how email and facetime work to their grandparents so that they can keep in touch even though they live thousands of miles apart.



Oh yes, families are the best. Except, of course, when they are the worst.