Regardless of direct relation, biological or not, people can still be, and still are, family. Family is incredibly important to human nature. We are social creatures, so having people that you can frequently associate with is super important. In the scene from In The Heights by Lin Manuel Miranda, we see a small amount of the complex interpersonal relations between the inhabitants of Washington Heights, a bit of the culture, and how involved they are with each other. Washington Heights appears to be an ethnic enclave of people from Latin America, so a lot of similarities do exist. In urban areas, cultural diversity is much greater, but people are more interconnected. Because of the larger population, more people are able to find others with cultural similarities. This in turn leads to more “family” to form.
As I live 600 miles away from most of my family, it can feel quite disconnected. However, I have a lot of friends where I live and they support me as if I were family. Even some of my friends that live in other countries are pretty close with me. Even if I’m not with relatives, I’ve still got lots of support and family. This reminds me of a concept from a scifi-horror game I played last year, Signalis. The main character, Elster, is separated from her lover, and fights her way to rejoin her. Throughout the game, you journey through different areas of a mining labor camp, memories, and personal events. All of these settings are under direct influence from her relationship with her lover. This represents how even when she is distant from her, she is still connected.