Water, blood, story

There is a classic saying that blood is thicker than water.

That implies that family ties, the biological ones, are stronger than the bonds between unrelated.

In my opinion, the classic saying is wrong

It’s not blood that is thicker than water.

It’s story.

By that I mean that people who share important stories – about childhood, upbringing, school and so on, have a much stronger relation than those solely based on biology.

When I look at myself.

I grew up with my mother, sister, stepbrother and stepfather.

We share stories about the time I rode on my stepbrothers moped tank as a child. Or the time I sat on my sisters shoulders and fell into a sea of sting nettles. Or the time we celebrated Christmas, birthdays or the time my mom was ill, and so on.

At the same time, I have a biological father and three half siblings. That I did not grow up with. That I have no common stories with. People that I have gotten to know more recently*.

But with my stepfather and stepbrother - who I'm not biologically related to, I share the stories, the origin. There, I sense much stronger ties.

*though the ties are not quite as strong, of course I also love those people.