My Family

What is family? Businessman and former Ford president, Lee Iacocca once said, “The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” If you stripped away all the glitz and glamour of your life, what would be left? There is only one answer for me, family. Whenever life’s most challenging moments arise and you are brought to your knees, your family will be the rock on which you can stand. Family is everything to me and I would not be the man that I am today without the love and support that my family has unconditionally given to me.

As a little kid I have always saw my family come together at the dinner table at the end of the day and really get together and talk about all the gossip and what things still have to be done. That was the routine and I thought it was something we were always going to do till we die but I was wrong. As sad it is to admit that good things never last it seems like this was something I came to realize was slowly but surely dying off in tradition. So who is to blame the parents, children, or the industries and society because fast food easy and quick didn’t require a homemade meal so there is less time spent at home, in the kitchen, and at the dining table with your family.

Now for the part we're all waiting for, the siblings. My oldest sibling Daniel (32), this is one of the three siblings that totally excluded themselves out of the family. Right out of high school he closed all contact from my Dad and all the kids that still resided with him. Needless to say, I am the only kid that hasn’t talked to him. Next, Chase (30) I have a very distinct relationship with him only because when I look and talk to him it feels like I’m talking to my Dad. Like my Dad, he chooses his favorite siblings and the specific ones he wants to have a relationship with and like you can guess I’m not included in that group. Three years ago Chase decided to get into drugs and misuse them and I talked to him asking if his life was that bad that he had to turn to heroin for an escape and he just sat there with no response that is the one conversation that will stick with me till I die. Now the second most impactful sibling Rochelle(29) she gets me through thick and thin when it comes to my parents and calms me down when I need it the most. She has made me who I am and will always be by my side till I die. She has been in a total of six car totaling accidents since my birth because she suffers from Schizencephaly which is a rare birth defect where slits or clefts are formed in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain and causes her to have periodic seizures. Next, we hit Cole (27) my relationship could be stronger but it's not weak. I only see him maybe once or twice every

A family is an extremely subjective term to describe people that provide support, love, and teachings. First, receiving support from my family is truly the best feeling imaginable. My siblings and I, are extremely different from one another. Without my parents being able to accept and support our differences we wouldn’t be who we are today. Nowadays, I truly believe the only people that love me is my family. No matter what happens my family is there to love me whenever I need them. Having that love from my family is what I need the most days. Lastly, receiving the feedback and lessons my parents provide me have shaped me into the person I am today. My parents tend to be relatively lenient with certain topics

I grew up in a household slightly different from the average household. This abnormal household showed me that no matter the family unit someone can have a positive influence in their life that will push them to achieve their goals. We lived in Maryland so the cost of living was high my parents had to work multiple jobs. This means my brother and I really had little to none parental or supervision growing up. I am only four years younger than my brother so I would hang with his crowd of friends rather than mine. In my household, my mother’s niece, Monet lived with us she is about ten years older than my brother. When my brother and I would wake up and I would be the only person in the house. I can remember waking up and smelling the freshly cooked waffles and bacon downstairs. Monet was my mother’s brother, daughter. Monet became so close to my brother Avery and I she was almost as if she was our sister. I can remember growing up and she would always say, “You don't have to take the route I took, its many more exits on the highway.” Even though I was young I was not blind to the fact of Monet role in the community and her neighborhood job I never judged her, she did what she had to do to make ends meet. It was an experience every day, or anytime being with Monet. She was so popular around Maryland it was almost like everywhere we went we received respect love. Now that I look back at the past, I see that Monet has taught me a lot that I know and live by today. I could

I waited for the black truck to arrive at my door. I never knew my aunt, uncle, and cousin, and now they would become my new family. However no one could really replace my real family. My Mom, Dad and younger brother got into a car wreck. I was the only survivor. My heart still aches from the experience. To make matters worse, I would have to leave my home in New York to go and live with my closest relatives in the country. My emotions and thoughts were acting like they had been put in a blender. I was happy that my extended family was willing enough to take me into their care, I was sad because I would have to live away from my home and friends. Everything will be different nothing will ever be the same again.

As a child, I was raised in an uppity, wealthy family. I was the child of the family failure. My Grandparents raised me. I was the child of the youngest and most enabled of the 11 kids my grandparents had. My father was a meth addict and my mother was selfish who was more concerned with her image and social life than her children. My grandmother loved me because she had children one after the other. By the time she was a master parent, all of her children had left the nest. With empty nest syndrome, she was all too happy to accept her name sake into her life and raise a little girl that was did not include an army of screaming children on top of the small infant she was handed.

My family may not be the tightest, or richest, but my parents love me and would do anything for me. My parents made me who I am, my mom told me to be humble and never judge a person because who knows what that person has been through. On the other hand there's my dad, who taught me a lot about the real world, and life is not as easy as I thought and you'll need money to have a decent life, so stay in school, because school the only way for a better life. My oldest brother probably taught me the most though. He tells me about sports and who got traded or hurt, he tells me about politics. They are the reason I am me. After all, if I was raised by my uncle, I think I wouldn't even think about going to college, I would prolly live in Norwood all my life following in his footsteps, but I wasn't, I was raised by two supporting parents, who wants me to have a better life than them and will make sure I will. My family made me who I am, with my dad lectures about me needing to work for what I want, to my mom's kindness and showing me how to treat others no matter who they are.

Darkness, anger, sadness, innocence and love: these are the words that describe my older half-brother and all the memories and emotions he brings to me and my parents. I was born in a loving home, he was born under chaos. My father is my hero, his father is his villain. To take care of me, my mom left her job. To take care of him, my mom left my brother with my grandmother so that she could get a job. This story is hard to digest and harder to put into words. The relationship between my family and my brother is now over, and it made my vision of life and family change completely.

“Hello, do you want to be my friend?” Wow, what a childish thing to say. Nevertheless, it was from my mouth in which these words came out of. I remember constantly saying this exact line to almost everyone I know, and the response I got was always something similar to a smile and “of course”, what happens after this is playing for hours on end and departing when our parents dragged us home. That was how I lived my childhood, making new friends wherever I go and ending everyone with separation due to our parents. During those times, I would be so annoyed with my mom, dragging me home every time we started to have fun. I now realize it was because we were a mess, covered in dirt and due to the fun we were having we didn’t even realize it was raining. But when I had realized this care that my parents had for me it was too late, my parents had divorced and I was left with my dad.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always said that if I could have even just one wish, it would be for a teleporter from my home here in Iowa where my dad lives, to my home in Virginia where my mom lives. My family is huge; but it’s also split up. My parents have been apart basically since I was born. I have to travel back and forth between them constantly, because they live about 1200 miles away from one another. It wasn’t easy to deal with as a little kid… and it still isn’t. But what had happened one year, before I went back to Virginia with my mom for summer break, would change everything. And what I was to learn from it was even bigger.

One of the most difficult things to do is to break all my ethical values and principles down into a single phrase or statement. However, I have no choice in the matter. So, I would have to say that my family’s drive to want to do good for those who are less fortunate and the strong sense of family that we all demonstrate must be the strongest and best values of all. If we stay along that thought process, I would say that, for me, if I leave a strong and ethically sound roadmap or legacy for my kids and their kids to follow, then I would say that life was a success. Having said all of that, here is my single statement: The purpose of life is to achieve a socioeconomic status to where I can ensure the safety and overall wellbeing of both my family and then their families while achieving a positive impact on society that is greater than when I entered it. Always try to better myself and my family!

When I was 16 years old, I realized I was similar to my dad. I always felt different from my family. My parents and my sister's look-alike. Their skin colors are all the same. I’ve always been the darker and chubbier one in the family. Sometimes I used to think I wasn’t even related to them. I even asked my mom as a kid, “did you guys kidnap me from someone as a kid?”

Family is almost everyone’s main priority today. When friends seem to disappear, family will always be there. Family comes with tears of joy, anger, strong protection, laughs, sadness, and happiness. It’s never a dull moment around close love ones. Being around family, and having fun with them is like winning the lottery. It’s such an exciting feeling. On the other hand, family can be very annoying. So annoying that someone wishes they weren’t related to them. Rather it’s someone’s annoying bitter judgmental aunt, alcoholic uncle, or someone’s aggravating little sister.

Friends are biggest value in people’s lives. I have many friends. Most of them are my neighbors, but also I have schoolmates. I can go out somewhere with them and feel comfortable. I know that friends of mine will help me anytime and anywhere. I can trust them. I have one best friend. I may pin his faith. Friendship between a friend of mine and me is firm and intense. He always helps me solve problems and treats me with respect. A friend of mine has never lied to me. It is better to say home truth that sweet lie. If I am upset, my best friend will jolly up me. He is caring, cheerful, trustworthy, outgoing and good-tempered. He is younger than I am. I think that age is not important for a friendship if you can come to an understanding and