Personal Narrative: Strict Haitian Parents Play A Big Role In My Family

As of 2015 the U.S Census Bureau revealed that approximately 116 million families are living in the United States. These families possess their own unique style, culture and set of beliefs. My family, consisting of my married parents and my older sister, are no different in the aspect that we too hold our own set of beliefs. The socially constructed term ‘family’ traditionally is defined as a unit that is related by marriage or blood, share financial responsibilities and care for any children/dependents (Lofquist et al., 2012). Growing up as a Haitian American, my ideas of what it means to be a family have been greatly influenced by my cultures and my religion. The Haitian culture greatly emphasizes family relationships and familial

My family is composed of my father, mother, a younger sister, an older sister, who unfortunately passed away, and myself. I grew up being the oldest child, for my oldest sister passed away before I was born. Although, I never got to meet my older sister her absence has taught me to value the importance of family.

My family is anything but ordinary, but it is this uniqueness that has shaped me into the person I am today.  I grew up in an Indian family of 9...yes 9! It’s not that I have 6 other siblings; alongside my parents and older brother Jaineel, I also live with my aunt, uncle, two cousins, and grandfather. Indian tradition calls for the sons of the family to care after their parents when married, so my dad and and his brother deemed the best way to fulfill this role is to have a joint family with their father, wives, and children. My cousins, Annika and Zuri, have been by my side since day one and are truly considered my sisters.  Living with so many people had changed me for the better; I have learned to greatly appreciate the love, support, and

Family values are ideals that are learned traditionally in a family and are reinforced within the familial unit. Family values can be very diverse between different cultures. Some of these family values are the way children are raised, discipline, gender roles in the family, and the way families choose to live.

The common characteristics defined by Lamanna and Reidmann for family are ancestry, marriage and or adoption.  They give a list of three characteristics along with which people are usually related.. (1.) from an economic unit and care for any young.  (2.) consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group, and (3.) to commit to maintaining that group over time.  Yes, for many reasons I would definitely consider my family to fit these three categories of of the common characteristics.  My family is a support unit on which I can heavily rely on and we all have each others best interest at heart and will do anything to help one another.  I wish it was better defined and more in detail because I find the three characteristics to be very vague but I would add that family is also some kind of support group on which you are emotionally attached to and heavily rely on to make important choices.. well, in most cases.

Everyone has a heritage, where they came from, where they developed into who they are today. Your family stems from your heritage and definitely forms you into the person you become. Barbara Kingsolver goes into depth on the concept of family in her essay, “Stone Soup,”. Throughout this essay, Kingsolver specifies how despite some families have gone through broken places and had to overcomes struggles and had to restructure their life, they are still a family, regardless they are not the common “traditional family” that everyone expects to see. Kingsolver describes how each family is positioned into these “family of dolls” with specific roles for each member and then goes on to explain how the “traditional families” in society put these negative labels and break down “nontraditional families” simply because they are not the same.

We 're all Haitian in my family. It 's not a big family, but we 're happy when we are together. My parents are very strict, I could say that it 's in our culture, but not all Haitian parents are strict. It 's just the way Haitians are. Heritage? I don 't think I have that in my family, except soils, animals like ducks, donkey, cow, and houses my grand-grandfather left before he died, but we don 't care that much. They 're not that important because all they bring is trouble to families. Education was always priority number one for my mother, and all my life I 've been influenced by a wonderful and lovely person, who has a big role in me going to college pursuing a higher education.

Growing up in Haiti has strengthen my survival instinct at an early age. With barely enough to eat, we was dying one by one. Medicine and treatment was very rare for us. Imagine dying from a simple cold due to the fact that aspirin and cough medicine was foreign to us. I recall walking around wishing for better days or looking for ways to help. And I remember being told I was coming to America. America, the place where even the most impossible dreams come true. America, where education is free and very beneficial. Regardless of how young I was, I knew with every fiber in my little body that I would try my hardest to be successful in America. Unable to speak english, school become a challenge. But to all my teachers surprise it took me less

Sarah is not your average girl. She lives with her mother, Mary, who works three jobs to support her two children. Sarah, nor her little brother Benny, has ever met their father. He went to prison when Sarah was just four years old for drugs. Sarah has always hung out with the rougher crowd. Sarah does not really apply herself to school. Her mother is very worried she will not pass with the grades she has, so Mary decides she is going to have Sarah go with her grandmother, Betty, on a mission trip to Haiti. Betty is an active member in her church and always goes on trips with her parish to help people in need.

When I was ten years old I gave some families in Haiti some clothes. Yes, I know every family has a clothes, but when you live in an area with people who have less then what you have it is sad. In the summer of 2012 my family and I went Haiti. Before that my mother told me to procure any clothes or shoes that do not fit me to put it in the box. Family members in Haiti would come to be able get any kind of item for their family. Every year my family would consolidate money, clothes, shoes, or toys to bring to Haiti. It would be a 3” by 4” feet box to fit everything people needed.

Everyone's experiences with it are different, some are favourable, and some are fallacious. Everyone has it, but no one’s family is synonymous. Family is strong and sacrosanct, but strange. The understanding of family varies between people and their personal experiences. In the play Only Drunks and Children Tell The Truth(ODACTTT) by Drew Hayden Taylor, one sees family defined in several legitimate but different ways.

Culture is defined by specific values and belief systems. Culture is who you are, your surroundings, and your traditions. Culture helps shape our behavior, since we're born,a nd raised into a specific culture. The vidoe what is culture, states that culture is learned behavior inspired by people that come from a specific group. I was raised in a Haitian family, and growing up Haitian was definately interesting. Growing up in a strict family, and being the only girl, out of 4 brothers, I grew uo literally walking on a straight line. It was like, if you are a girl, you are looked down on, if you do anything wrong. You are also looked at, as if you've shamed your own family. Growing up in the haitian culture has raised me to be just like my mother.

An unknown author once said, "Families are like fudge—mostly sweet with a few nuts. My family is the most important aspect to my life. No matter how much they sometimes pester or annoy me I still love them. I do not think people can live through life without the support of family. My family mostly supports me throughout all my actions, and they make me laugh. I do not really think I resemble either my mom or dad. They both had very difficult lives growing up, and I do not think I will ever experience that. Before there was me, there were my parents whose struggle against communism led them to the United States to find the life they deserved.

Before referring to the impact of culture on families, I will say that culture is known as knowledge, art, beliefs, law, morals, customs and all habits and skills acquired by man not only in the family but also to be part of a society as a member that is. It is also defined as a set of ideas, behaviors, symbols and social practices learned from generation to generation through life in society. The family is defined as a group of people linked by blood, marriage, or adoption; usually centered on a married couple, their dependents, and relatives. Although there have also been non-traditional families made up of people who are not linked by blood or marriage and are now found more frequently in many regions of the world.

On another note, I would say my life is very similar in terms of culture to the members of my family. Most of my family is white and middle class, besides one uncle who married into the family who is Ghanaian. My parents both had siblings like me, some type of religious influence, and both received a college education. I inherited many of my skills and hobbies from them as well.