This special issue examines family communication using a slightly different definition of the family, forming the beginning of a more expansive ideology of family life. Each paper examines family life via a cultural lens beyond white, middle-class nuclear families and represents a mosaic of unique, insightful, and provocative thoughts on families. The first article seeks to understand an overlooked family relationship: the post-marital relationship following divorce. The next paper focuses on an engrossing area of family discourse: family stories. The final article sets an agenda for communication researchers focused on families through interactional/transracial adoption. As such, this issue signifies a leading edge in scholarship on family communication in diverse contexts.