[aniles]

I am an adoptee, and I think that how a child fits in to a family is very complicated. I feel very connected to my extended family (cousins, grandparents, etc.) and it's probably because I was never made to feel like I was the adopted one. I was always my parent's daughter, and it just didn't matter. I also think, however, that every person is different and another person in my shoes may have felt very different. There's a little bit of personal biology, and a little bit of how the family acts towards and relates to the adopted child. I know my adoption was always understood, but never focused on because it simply wasn't important. I was just a member of the family, plain and simple.