Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2018

71 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature F amily. If you look in the dictionary, you’ll find that it reads, “a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children.” But take a closer look, because that’s not all. Just a few lines down, you’ll notice another definition that suggests a family can be made up of any group of adults, be it grandparents, aunts or uncles that care for the children in a home. To us, that feels more like the families we know throughout the world today. It’s important to remember that families come in all shapes and sizes, with grandparents raising their grandchildren, an aunt stepping in to care for her nieces and nephews and more. Roles are no longer defined by simply their names, and, often, people are stepping outside of those roles to embrace the ultimate responsibility of raising children. Throughout the Lowcountry, family members have stepped up to the plate when necessary, whether that means putting their own dreams or passions on hold or simply learning what life looks like with more people in their home. Brandi Tatum Floyd, a resident of Mount Pleasant, intimately understands what it means to take on the role By Krysta Chapman They Bend butNever Break The New Look of the Family Unit