Many people believe that a member of the family is more important than a friend. Do you agree or disagree? Include your own opinion and examples from your experience.

Friends and family are the vital sources of a happy and joyous life. Although it’s difficult to pin-point the significance of any one over the other, some people feel that family comes first. This essay shall explain the importance of both. Starting off by talking about family members, I’d agree with the fact that friends may come and go, but family stays forever. Family members are there in our life longer than the friends we make, and they accept us as we are. They care about us, support us, and will always want what’s best for us. They are our blood and our heritage. Family blood lines give us a sense of who we are and where we come from. Sure, like every relationship, it isn’t necessary for family members to always get along, but when push comes to shove, they are always there for you, as your backbone, through good times and bad. Nevertheless, the essence of friends in our lives is also extremely valuable. Some friends are close like family, and will stick by your side as your family would do. In majority of the cases, friends belong to a similar age group. More importantly, friends are chosen by you; they’re people who you first developed a liking for before becoming friends. Mostly, two friends would have a lot more in common than two family members. Friends like doing things together, sharing secrets with one another that they wouldn’t tell their family, getting each other out of trouble, preferring each other’s company even in silence – all these instances create countless memories between them that are incomparable and stay for life. So, these non-blood relations are also very important. Summing up all the arguments above, it can be concluded that friends are as crucial in life as family. I don’t agree that any one relation supersedes the other. It’s better to have a good balance of different well-wishers in life.