What is family? I was thinking of this the other day, because I was booking my flight to go home for thanksgiving, and the phrase and idea of “spending time with your loved ones” during the holidays. After thinking of that phrase I wondered why I was going home in the first place. Like my family is fine I guess, but that’s not where my “loved ones” are. My friends are my family, and leaving them, even if it’s just for break is always really hard. So in class when we were talking about Silas Chanfler and how he saved his slave master and styaled loyal to him, I was reflecting on why he would even do that. If he was a slave, doesn’t that mean he would want to be free? but then I realized that they were his family, and his actual family was there, too, along with his loved ones and everything. The concept of family is so interesting to me. I feel like it is connected with values. Silas obviously valued family and loyalty. He thought that his values were something to fight for. Fighting for the cause we believe in is important. I think this is something bigger than ourselves that gives us a sense of community and gives our lives purpose. Like our example from class demonstrated, black people fought for the confederacy, they fought to wear that uniform and earn all the same titles and respect that white people did. This is something that they believed in and felt added meaning to their lives. People don’t get into conflicts because they have nothing better to do. They fight because they feel that they have been deprived or threatened. I feel like it isn’t important to communicate with anyone the reasoning behind your actions, but it is important that you know why you are doing the things you are doing. And you owe it to yourself to know those answers; what you value and what is worth fighting for.