If you’re reading this — whether you like it or not — you have [at some point in your life] been part of a family. Chances are you’re still part of a family. (We have met very few loners in life who have eschewed or lost all family.) It’s something we all have in common, but what constitutes a family can be very different depending on who you ask. That’s what we’re talking about on this week’s episode of Men in Gorilla Suits.

We begin by talking about our earliest family memories and then jump to how large our immediate families were (and are).

There are those who say, “My friends are family!” Does that hold true to us, or can only actual relatives be family?

The Brady Bunch introduced many people to step families at a time when it wasn’t as common as it is today. We discuss our experiences with step families — and then talk about in-laws…are they as bad as sitcoms and movies make them out to be?

Find out if family is the most important thing in our lives; then we talk about our best — and worst — family memories.

Families are not perfect things, and sometimes there are relatives who are just very hard to deal with. Find out if either of us have ever written off a family member.

With more people having children later in life (or not at all), “fur-kids” has become a term many use to describe their pets. We some time to talking about how important pets are to family.

It seems even the most Leave-it-to-Beaver families have some degree of dysfunction going on. We ask if there even are any normal families out there, or if it’s all an ideal that can never exist.

Finally, what constitutes a family has changed over the years. We talk about the future of the family and the challenges faced (and — hopefully — the acceptance that family is really what we make of it…).

If you feel compelled to join in the conversation, have your say in the comments below…

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