1) The author discusses how while we are born into families we cannot choose, we can choose to create our own families through marriage and children. 2) The author uses his friend Hali as an example of someone who guarded her heart but finally trusted her partner, choosing to make herself vulnerable and create a family with him. 3) The author says that in choosing to create a family together, this couple has chosen to experience life's joys and hardships together, finding strength in one another, and will one day look back on their created family as the day they found their family.

1. Finding Family
By
John Stevenson
Theysay youcan’t pickyour family.Andinsome waysthisistrue.We’re all bornto a set of
parentswhowill inevitablydrive uscrazy,usuallythere are some brothersandsistersthatalsodrive us
crazy. Thenthere are the uncles,aunts,cousins,grandparents,all of them withtheirownunique quirks
and weirdhabits.We’re usuallystuckwiththese peopleandwe grow to love thembecause they’reour
family.Yes,theysayyoucan’t pickyourfamily.Butthat’snot reallytrue,isit?Because there isone
familywe gettopick: the one we create.
The familywe choose tocreate is special.Withyourownfamily you’re born intotheir
weirdness,andthere’snothingyoucando about it.But whenwe choose tocreate a familywith
someone we love,we’re choosingtoembrace the weirdnessof thatperson.Youhadyour chance to run,
you’ve seenboththe bestandworsttheyhave to offer,theirromanticsoulsandtheir weirdhabits.Yet
still youchoose tocreate a familywiththatperson. Andevenmore amazing,they’vechosentoaccept
youas well.We all like tothinkof ourselvesasperfect,andthatit’sjusteverybodyelse that’sweird,but
the truth iswe all have ourown flawsandquirks.
Hali for instance,she spentmost of herchildhoodwishingshe wasaboy or alternativelyafive
hundredpound,3-foottall sumowrestler.Make of that whatyou will,Icertainlyhave noidea.WhenI
metHali in highschool she wore herhair shorterthanmost of the guysinour class,and she’dcomplain
that herhair wasgettingtoolong if itso much as reachedthe back of her neck. Now lookat her,a few
yearsago Hali wouldhave tornthe hairfrom herheadrather thanletit getthat long.PersonallyIthink
Hali is justlullingMitchell intoafalse sense of security.WhoknowsMitchell,inafew yearsyoumight
suddenlyfindyourself marriedtoasumowrestler.
Mitchell:Ihaven’tgottentoknow youthat well yet,buthere’swhatIdo know:youmust be an
extraordinaryman.Inthe six yearsI’ve knownHali I’ve learnedthatshe’sone of those rare people that
givesherheartto everyone aroundher,it’swhatmakeshersucha magical personand whyshe’s
surroundedbysomany greatpeople today.Yetthere’sapart of herheartshe keepswell guarded,a
part of herthat isslowto trust; a part of herthat’safraidto be vulnerable.Now she hasfinallyletthat
guard down;chosentotrust youand chosento make herself vulnerable toyou.Youhave claimedher
heart,justas she’sclaimed yours.
Andtogether,youhave chosentocreate your new family.
You’ve chosentoexperience the joysandwondersof thislife together,andtoendure the
hardshipsandturmoil of life byfindingstrengthinone another.Andyearsfromnow,whenyouthink
back on the familyyoucreatedandthe two familiesyoubroughttogether,you’ll lookbackand
rememberthis:
Thisis the day I foundmyfamily.