An Introduction

What really defines a family? Is it a mother, father, and child? Is family a

birthright or is it created by conditional situations? To me, a family is a close group of
people that share, love, and experience life together. My mother, Michelle Little, my
father, Reed Burkhart, my step-dad, Jed Morrow, and my two older brothers, Tim and
Scott comprise my immediate family. They are quite loving and even though we may
have differing interests, we all really appreciate music and religion.
My family is unique to me because I have grown up with three parental figures
since the age of 5, while most children have only known two. Although my family may
be somewhat split due to my parents being divorced, generally both sides of my family
enjoy similar activities. Just as any family, we love to gather together around the holidays
to eat, talk, and show gratitude for one another.
In a larger ring of my family, or my more distant relatives, lies my grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and cousins. Although quite a few of us are located here in California, the
rest of my extended family can be found all across the United States. For example, my
cousins on my step-dads side live in Wisconsin, while my cousins on my mothers side
are currently residing in Wyoming. On my fathers side I dont have any first cousins,
however I have an extensive list of second and third cousins which I see every year at
Thanksgiving. Many members on my dads fathers side of family, the Burkharts, are
located on the East Coast, and although I have never met them I have heard they are quite
tall and humorous. I hope to see them sometime when we cross paths.

In the future, I will likely place a high priority on family by choosing to live close
to my parents, brothers, and other relatives. I find the coming together of a large group of
people, which support and unconditionally love one another, a magnificent thing.