My Family Story

One of the most major occurrences in my life is growing up without a father. In 2004 my dad was in a motorcycle accident and it was just like that. I obviously have it different than a lot of people, but I was so young that I think it affected me different than say my brother who is around nine years older than me. All that aside I feel it overall brought us much closer just because it’s about all we could do.

My grandpa went through many of those events in life, but mainly with his sons and daughters. Most of my aunts and uncles on my father's side died from unnatural causes. Such causes of their deaths were from abusive relationships, alcoholism, plague (pollio) and organ failures. The main point is, it ought to be heartbreaking to see your children become deceased before your time is up. Throughout the twelve kids, only three survived to live till this very day. As for devastating, my grandfather's main treasure was my grandmother. My grandparents were married for seventy years. They raised, provided for them and together fought hard times. My  grandfather's heart was completely shattered with her death. She had been the only one there for him in life to take care of him. With my grandmother recently deceased, family turned against my grandpa and everything went wrong. His last daughter that lived began to steal his money and his wife's jewelry. His youngest son with his wife tried to take over the house and together tried to put the only son that was helping him in jail, my father. In the end, my grandpa sold his most valued house and stood away from his son and daughter. He lost everything that meant a lot to him, the house, his kids and his

During Middle school I experienced a situation that no family wants to have to encounter. Unfortunately I witnessed a divorce take place with my aunt and uncle. You might wonder why this divorce had such a huge impact on me? My aunt and uncle were hands down two of my favorite people. They always were there for any of my

At that time it was the most logical decision that one could have made. If it were you, would you have done the same? To protect his family and to give them the opportunity of a lifetime was one thing that he, my father Yong X. Vang, would never regret doing. He is a man who for the sake of the Americans, fought in the Secret War which then led him through many hardships and guided him and his family to where they are today.

I suffered the loss of both of my parents when they were in their early 60’s. My parents were wonderful individuals who taught my sister and I how to love one another and be good servants of the Lord. After their passing, I became very jealous of friends and family that were blessed to still have both or at least one of their parents that they could love, laugh and enjoy spending time with. I knew this was not the Christian way to feel nonetheless I felt cheated. What I gained from my loss was the closeness that I have with my sister today.

Everything was about to change, we wouldn’t order take-out on Sundays, it was a big deal, I was losing my best friend, the only father figure I have ever had so far. I watched him taking all of his stuff out of the apartment, I was getting more and more mad. Wasn’t our beautiful relationship enough to make him stay? I even blame myself I thought I had done something wrong, maybe wearing his clothes and leaving them all messy, I apologize and swear not to do it again, but it didn’t matter the decision was already made.

Every time I hear about losing one of my family members it is hard for me to let the fact go that they had passed away. It is one of the roughest feelings to ever go through because I also had family that has passed away from the stress of losing other family members too. One of my worst feeling is when my uncle had died when I was only about four years old. He was part of my childhood and the reason why is because I was always riding around with

During the period of 2008 -2011 my family went through a strong period of turmoil. My father was working in a city that was declared by the United Nations the “most dangerous city in the world, not officially declared under war.” This had many effects on us, in terms of loss from loved ones to the danger my father was in at a daily basis. This relentless violence was the sole reason why we relocated. Further, switching colleges several times as we finally settled in Tennessee. This rollercoaster of emotions and events is what affected me, I struggled with depression from the situation. This period of hardship most definitely was an obstacle to my learning. The initial part of my college career was cluttered with distractions, which took away

The person I am interviewing for this project is my friend Richard’s mom, Mrs. Triplett. He and I have been friend since middle school, and we have an interracial friendship. He is culturally Black, and I am Vietnamese. I decide to interview his mom because I consider us to be different from each other in some key dimension. Unlike me, who am an immigrant to the United States of America, Richard’s family is native to New Orleans. His parents were born in New Orleans and they stayed in New Orleans their whole life. They been through many struggles and have seen many hurricanes. The recipe his mom decided to share with me is red beans and rice.

My immediate family includes my father Craig, mother Judy, younger sister Chloe, and myself. The heritage of my father’s family originates in Ireland and Denmark. His ancestors came to the United States around 1905. My mother’s family traveled from Germany to America in 1855. My parents married in 1994 in the Saint Patrick Catholic Church where they both grow up, in Montrose, South Dakota. Three years later, I was born at the Avera Mckennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Specifically, I entered the world on April 15, 1997. Six year later my family expanded by the addition of my sister. She was born in the same hospital on July 27, 2003.

Well, during this time my mom had become very ill. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, along with few other painful diseases. My mom was so sick she couldn’t even walk. I have 2 brothers, an older brother and a younger one. Also my step dad who had been raising us. Well

The mix of my complicated family history and my strong supportive mother have shaped me into the person that I am today. My biological father, Clint, battled with a secret drug addiction that my sweet mother knew nothing about until it was too late. When I was only a year old, the drug addiction had gotten the best of Clint and he made the decision to take his own life, leaving me and my mother heart broken. Clint’s choices impacted my life in such ways that I cannot explain. Growing up, it was just me and my mother until I was four, however, in this time we took the bad situation that we were in and we did not let it get the best of us. We chose to move forward and to take positive things from this horrific time. We learned through this experience that life goes on. No matter how hard the situation is, you must move on. Learning this mentality at such a young age has taught me that I cannot fret the small things, I have to look at the bigger picture because that is what really matters.

About 4 years ago, my uncle passed away. . I never ask why because everything happens for reason. We don't visit family every weekend we're busy people and I'm sure they are too, but in that moment it's like family stopped all that to come together and be united. Everyone needed each other my closest friends were there for me as well they are my family. It was a beautiful thing to see in this is why I know family will always be there.

The significant caretakers and siblings that a person grows up with, or the first social group a person belongs to is one’s family of origin. This is often a person’s biological family or an adoptive family. My family of origin consists of my father, Jamie, my mother, Lori, and my brother, Morgan. In the past year, I have also gained a sister-in-law, Katie. These people have had an influence on how I see myself, others, and society.

Family is the supporting block for every person and when that is taken from you there is many consequences. It can change the mindset of someone and taint it, it can change the way they behave and the things they do. It can take away so much from that person when family is taken away, it can strengthen them or break them. It has and ever lasting effect on the person depending on how close they are to their family. All those moments just become memories of what they lost and can not have anymore. I was one of those people that had to go through that as a young 9 year old. I saw everything changed right in front of me, my life was now different and never will be the same. It is something that definitely impacted me and it is the main reason that I am the person I am today. My mom’s side of the family was taken away, the side that I was the closest too but not exactly in the way you think, nothing bad happened to them, they are still well alive I believe. That’s the thing I don’t know whether or not if they are because the way they were taken away from me had to do with them moving away and cutting all contact with us. It all started from one tragic event that took place that year when they all left.