I have one brother and one sister. Growing up I wish I had a lot more of both. I had a best friend who came from a family with six kids and I thought that would be cool. Eight is Enough? That show made large families seem fun and full of activity. With three, you play odd man out. I knew when I grew up I would have at least four kids (and probably a lot more) to keep it even and fun. (For the record, I have three kids. When you make plans…)

But what happens if you find out you have 533 kids? That is the premise of a new Vince Vaughn movie DELIVERY MAN to be released this November 22.  In the film, Vince Vaughn plays an affable underachiever looking for his purpose in life, when he finds out he’s fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Now he must decide whether or not to come forward when 142 of them want to meet their biological father. As the movie trailer says, “You’re never quite ready for what life delivers you.”

As Vince Vaughn’s character struggles about whether to be a part of these kids’ lives and if so, just how much he should be involved, it comes back around to the question, “What makes a family a family?”

Like I said, I have one brother and one sister that I grew up with my entire life. As an adult, I have made friends that have become like a family to me. Family is not just biology. Family is what you make it. Family is the place you go when you need to be loved and accepted for who you are. Family is your safety net. No longer does the definition of one mom, one dad, and kids fit for family. The basis of all families, true families, is love, not biology.

I love the family I have grown up with and the one I have created with my husband but I also love the one I’ve created with the people I have met over the years who have become family. I am grateful for each and every one of them. However, I am also very grateful I am not one of 533 children. That would make Thanksgiving awfully crowded! The movie looks like one that will not only be laugh out loud funny but tug at your heart strings as well.

What is your definition of family? Biology or the people we choose or some amazing combination of both?

I choose both. What do you stand for?