Rick Riordan: "Family is not always those who share your blood, but those who share your battles."

Family is more than blood.

Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you’ve finished, read a book. Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in poverty or sick and lonely again. In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday.

Sometimes in life, you fall down holes you can’t climb out of by yourself. That’s what friends and family are for - to help. They can’t help, however, unless you let them know you’re down there.