The family friend you call “uncle” without being related is proof family isn’t only about blood.

Family is partly biology and mostly attendance. Somebody who turned up for twenty years of birthdays, funerals and Sunday lunches has done the thing that makes a relative, which is to keep appearing without being obliged to. The title you gave them as a child was more accurate than the paperwork. It recognised the function rather than the genetics.

Say the quiet part to one of those people this year. Tell them plainly what they have been in your life, because they probably do not know you noticed. And when you are older, be that for a kid who needs an extra adult who is not a parent.