My Family

I was nine months pregnant when one early morning I felt a gush of water flow out of me. I gasp and said "it's time." No one was home except for me. To make sure it was finally time to give birth I waited until the contraction where four minutes apart. As I was changing my pants I then called my parents who were at work. "Oh no, are you ready for some pain," my mother told me as she laughed her heart out. "Mom don’t scare me," I frantically told her. Just then my aunt had just arrived from work and I quickly ran downstairs to tell her it was time. As she rushed me to the hospital I began thinking about how much my life would now feel complete. It's like I had a friend who heard me cry, who listen to me talk, who ate what I would eat. It was

Almost everyone in their lifetime will lose a loved one. It is something that can’t be prevented, and sometimes it is a necessary evil that is a part of growing up and going through life. Losing a loved one can be very hard on people, yet it affects everyone differently. From trying to hide your grief to the outbursts of sobbing are but a few examples of what people experience when losing a loved one. I personally have had to go through this phase many times in my life, starting at the age of six when I lost my dad; however, I eventually got through it.

Everyone has someone in their life that makes you feel better when you're sad or cares about you eternally, no matter what. That is my family, specifically my Dad, my Mom and my brother Brian. Some people take their family for granted, but I know that without my parents I wouldn’t have a roof over my head or food on a plate or even clothes on my back. Without my brother, I might not have played any sports, my brother is the one who introduced all types of sports into my life and motivated me to do my best.

Everyone has their story. What makes them unique and special? Where did they come from? What made them the way they are ? For me it is that I grew up faster than most. It started when I was little, I always wanted to do my own hair. The thing I always said was, “I can do it myself.” If anyone tried to help I would still say the same thing. It then continued when my parents got a divorce. I was very young; around six and a half years old. When this happened I did not know what to  feel but I was still a happy, cheerful kid. I now realize that family is very valuable and can change in a heartbeat. The idea of family to me means people who would do almost anything for you and you would do the same. After the divorce, when at my dad’s, I had to help take care of my younger brother. I would help him dress, brush his teeth, and make food. I now value what my mom does and did when I was a kid more because taking care of my little brother was difficult.

Family provides a basis for how we interact with the world; when meeting someone new, or doing a new action, I think back on what my family has taught me. I have a large family and each member has done something that has impacted me in some way, but I have really analyzed how my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and parents have impacted my life. There are several aspects to consider however for this analysis I will be focusing on these socioeconomic events: immigration, poverty, gender, educational attainment, death, and health problems.

It seemed as if a war was happening right in the middle of our kitchen. Seeing the puddles of tears streaming down from my sister and I’s face was undoubtedly heartbreaking for my parents, but it was also heartbreaking for my sister and I to find out our parents were getting a divorce. Their screaming was loud and constant. I wish my walls were soundproof.

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.

Family was a word that made me feel like an empty bag, drifty down the wind, not having a clue about . It was a word I heard a lot, my family this and my family that, people I was surrounded with had a family to be with but I didn't have no family here to even spend time with. Sometimes when I heard people talk about their family, I would day dream and imagine how my family was like, what did they like to do and go to family reunions, how many people were in my family, were there some in my family characteristics that I shared with them or were there others that were totally different from mine. I would think what was my mom and dad's side like, what was different about them. All these questions I had floated in my head and left me wondering out for years. Whenever people asked about my family, I would just want to blast off, miles away to my destination and meet them, then land back to the conversion and tell them about my family.

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.

What is your family like? How many siblings did you grow up with ? So many people get to grow up with both parents and with siblings or without any. For me that was not the case. I got to grow up with my mom who is amazing but having a father figure was semi hard. My parents were together until i was two and then things hit a bump. They separated and i was too young to realize what was going on nor did i know who my father really was. As i grew older the picture got clearer. In the beginning of my life things were great i did not mind having to go back and forth to my parents house. My dad still came around for my birthday parties and they made things work. I thought everything was great and i was living the perfect life. I was two at the time and chocolate and babydolls is what i called perfect.

Family was a word that made me feel like a empty bag, drifty down the wind, not having a clue where it's going next. It was a word I heard a lot, my family this and my family that. People I was surrounded with had a family to be with but I didn't have no family here to even spend time with. Sometimes when I heard people talk about their family, I would day dream and imagine how my family was like, what they liked to do, what did they do and go for family reunions, how many people I had in my family, were there some in my family, characteristics I shared with them or were there others that were totally different from me. I would think what was my mom and dad's side like, what was different, and how did they come together to call us a family, what was the history in the Kanidy and Elbare family that brought us together as one. All these questions I had in my head left me wondering out alone for years. Whenever people asked about my family, I would just want to blast off, miles away to my destination, right quick, and meet them and land back to the conversion and tell them about my family.

Families have played a crucial role in the formation of civilization since the beginning of time. Although the definition of what a family consists of has constantly changed and evolved, the main idea behind the raising and continuation of the human race has always been the primary goal. As different individuals and groups have risen to power- and fallen from it- there have been different political and economic shifts that have impacted the ideals behind family. Oftentimes, people would be highly impacted by such worldly changes and it would create personal problems leading to emigration as well as other hardships. Mills discusses the way that personal troubles are often contrasted with public issues even though they typically intertwine or relate in one way or another.

I feel like family is one of the most predominant reasons for my character and choices. I have a large family with four step-siblings which are 23, 14, 9 (males), and 6 (female); I also have one adopted brother who is 23, two full brothers who are 17 and 16, and a half sister who is 2 and a half brother who is 1, therefore, at almost 20 I fall in the middle. However, I did not grow up with all of these siblings; I grew up as the oldest child and only girl. My mother has been married three times and my father has been married twice, so, in the midst of all of the marriages is where my family grew.

My family growing up was very connected with the community. My dad was on the police man for the town of Sleepy Hollow and served as a board member for the town of West Dundee. My brothers and I learned how to care for and about others from the example our dad set. My grandfather died when I was quite young so I cannot say if he was an example for my dad, his brother and two sisters. For this paper, I will discuss my father and his family in parallel with myself and my brothers. I and my father, are the youngest. My father had three siblings and I have two. The relationship between my father and his two older siblings was very strong. My father’s relationship with the sister just a couple of years older than him has been strained since the death of my grandmother in 1983. I have a strained relationship with my eldest brother. The relationship I have with my brother who is just two years older is better, but still strained. I grew up in a strict catholic family that went to catholic school and attended whichever church my father was a deacon at. This is important because back in the 1970’s and 1980’s families did not talk about things that happened. My family was not any different. Everything, bad was swept under the table never to be spoken of.

Family needs come before the needs of yourself. That’s the lesson the most horrible time of my life taught me. If you are in a situation that is irritating, if it's about family it doesn’t matter. This whole situation taught me that family is the most important thing in my life. July 3, 2014 is where my story starts.