My family has learned to accept the fact that my cats are my kids and my family.
My parents love cats but when my RB Pepper passed away they didn't want me adopt any more cats. They didn't know about Cirrus until I had already had him for 2 months and they didn't know about Sky until I had him for about 2 weeks. Now my father thinks that Sky is the best cat in the world because he's so friendly.
Both of my sister-in-laws are highly allergic to cats so their children will never be able to experience the joy of having a cat. So far their homes are petless. I did receive Christmas gifts for my cats this year from them though.