As We Age, Friends Can Trump Family Ties

The importance of family relationships to happiness is pretty much viewed as a given. Blood relationships come with a closeness not found elsewhere in social relationships. Geneticists and sociologists tell us through science why this is the case. Friends, though, ride on the periphery: acknowledged as important anecdotally, but seldom the subject of rigorous introspection and scientific study. This is strange given that many families are geographically distant, as people make interstate