We have a couple of kids in our family whom I didn't give birth to, but they've become family nonetheless. A child that I met and mentored starting 10 years ago who reached out in her time of need and then kind of just 'stuck' (and later when she came out as gay, her family pretty much refused to accept it, so she's become even more a part of our family) and another friend of the family who has been around since my kids were little. That, plus dogs, the kids who call me mom and flit in and out of our lives here and there... I love being the 'safe place' for kids who don't feel that they have that elsewhere.