Family: What Does it Even Mean?

From Webster Dictionary:

A group of people related to one another by blood or marriage.
"Friends and family can provide support"
synonyms: relatives, relations, blood relations, family members, kin, next of kin, kinsfolk, kinsmen, kinswomen, kindred, one's (own) flesh and blood, connections.

From Urban Dictionary:

A group of people, usually of the same blood (but do not have to be), who genuinely love, trust, care about, and look out for each other.

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We don't have the opportunity to pick and choose the people we are related to. But I do have the ability to choose the people I want in my family. This includes people I am related to by blood, but a decent part of my family is not. I am bonded to these people by experiences, memories, love, trust, and happiness. And my family evolves over time.

Unfortunately, some of the people I am related to by blood do not meet these criteria. It sucks, it actually fucking sucks. Because I love them and would love for them to be a part of my family. In fact, I have tried for so long to include them in my family. My parents even tried before me, but to no avail. They don't see us as part of our family (and we're definitely not included in theirs) so after many years, it's time to accept it and move on.

I've tried accepting it for a while. It'll take time. But every event we're not included in, every time we're ignored, or every snide comment we hear, helps build my resolve.

So, I prefer Urban Dictionary's definition over Webster's. It may not be as official, but it is far more accurate.

I'm doing well (and it's a little scary)

I started a new job a few months ago. So far, it has been a very rewarding experience and I am learning a lot. As there aren't many people at this location for the company, I have been given a good number of tasks and responsibilities. When I started working here, I basically hit the ground running with work. And my workload and number of responsibilities have only increased since then.

For all intents and purposes, I am a "catchall" Quality Engineer.

I think I'm getting a little overwhelmed at work.

Not in a bad way, I'm getting a lot of different opportunities to learn new things and work in different capacities, which is incredible. I'm really happy that my managers think that I'm a good fit for these roles. But it's adding responsibility to my plate, and I can feel myself getting nervous at the prospect of not meeting the expectations my managers have placed on me.

This fear is especially more prevalent, as they hire new people who could easily surpass me in success.