If you mean a functional family as if there is an opposite to dysfunctional family I hate to burst your bubble... the only 'functional family' ever was the Cleavers. If that doesn't ring a bell, it was on the show Leave it to Beaver - a Post WWII idealize nuclear family of a stay at home cooking mother, an office working father and two 'normal' boys who got into trouble in nearly ever episode but everything was resolved in the allotted 30 minutes. Well may be the Brady's were also a functional family. But these are 'storybook' families. Real families are usually barely functional - meaning there is a whore, a drunk, a drug addict, a criminal, a family secret, a divorced, a ..... well lots of possibilities ;) at least one more often there are several of these, and the family fights and feuds and has 'unsolvable' problems that are never really solved but the family learns how to function around them. This is how a family works: Everybody pushes and shoves and tolerates the best they can and they make do with what they got and they try, really try to not make family get-togethers into fist fights, drunk parties or other 'unpleasantness'. Screaming, shouting are to be expected, wry wit and humor goes a long way, if you lack wit or humor your doomed - DOOMED I tell ya!. By and large a family will pull together when they need to - that isn't often, and it seems like a miracle - it is but don't tell anyone. If children are involved a whole new level of insanity can be reached. No we are not talking the opposite of dysfunctional, because lets face it all families are dysfunctional - they are however the units of individuals where everybody knows in their darkest personal hour that they can go to for love, understanding and a swift kick in the pants when needed. No body knows how this thing called family is supposed to work, we just all muddle through and it seems to work. You'll be ok.