When you hear the word "family", you may think of siblings, your parents, or your grandparents.When I hear the word "family", ponies who are more distant come to mind. Take my father, for instance.
Today is a lot better than yesterday. The sun is shining, there's a nice breeze blowing, and nearly everypony is outside. Well, except for my father. He isn't much of a father to me as opposed to somepony I once knew. He took care of me for about three years of my life, but those years weren't all in a row.
There are certain crimes that you'll get busted for in Ponyville. One crime in particular is theft.
My father was a burglar.
Of course, I still have a family who's not so distant: my mother and my siblings. They don't come to mind when I hear the word "family". This might have to do with the fact that I can only remember how sad I was when my dad was arrested and now that I think about it, my brain always remembers the sad and embarrassing as opposed to the good and the happy.
The mind is pretty funny that way, pretty much like life. Maybe when you hear the word "family", you think of your grandmother, who spoils you rotten with hoof-made clothing and doilies, or your hard-working mother who pays all the checks and hardly gets a break.
But it's not like I know who or what comes to mind. The definition of a family is different for everypony. We're all different.