Reflective Essay About My Family

Growing up as a kid, the people I looked up to the most were my parents. As I got older I started to realize how much I started to influence my sister's and started becoming a role model to them. My family growing up hasn't been the greatest family or really even a normal one from what I think a family should actually be. ️

Since I can remember, I have prayed and hoped that for this one thing, and now my wish has finally come true. My immediate family has four people in it and I am the youngest. In my extended family, among all my cousins on both sides, I am also the youngest. For a long time, this has made me kind of sad and frustrated. I love babies and children. Although we have pets I can take care of, it is not the same thing as having a younger brother or sister. Until recently, I never thought I wouldd have something close to this opportunity. I have always wished that I could be a big sister so that I could help care for and have an impact on a younger person’s life.

My family is friendly and welcoming when interacting with other people. My cousin who has been living with his Turkish girlfriend for more than 5 years got engaged. The girlfriend’s parents came to our house to meet the rest of the family. On that day, my aunts cooked the finest dish and the house was basically clean and with some bouquets of flowers. Her parents were so delighted on how close my family is and we instantly created a special familial bound with people that we meet for the first time. My family and I have a strong bond, we are always there for another in any situation. I live in Cambria Heights; my neighborhood is full of Caribbean people especially Haitians. If we are talking to someone and we see that they are Haitians, we constantly speak Creole with them rather than talking in a foreign language.

My family? You actually want to use these few minutes to read about my family? Well, let me just say one thing: we are all so, very different. So, making connections is easier said than done. Yet, I have made a few crucial connections with my cousin Hayley, my cousin P.J., and my mother.

I am unique in many ways and this due to the many influences in my life. What makes me so unique is my family background, my personality, and my everyday experiences.

Every individual person in this world has many different sociological influences on their life. All varying from education, religion, friends, and even the workplace. Some people may have a ton of things that influence their lives and others may only have a few, all depending on that individual. In my life particularly, the three biggest societal influences are education, family, and lastly my extracurricular activities.

“Caio, Caio, Caio” Everyone says as I enter through the old crumbling door into the main room. The tomato and basil smells from the kitchen make their way to my nose. “Come va?” “Sembri proprio tuo padre!” Everyone is screaming to tell me something and then my grandmother screams “Okay, that’s enough!” Silence swept the room. Everyone was gathered around like they were ready for a ceremony. With red cheeks and sweat running down his face, my grandfather introduced everyone. Every person coming up and kissing me on each cheek. The small stuffy room smelled like pasta and only had one window for enough light to shine through to see the mustiness in the room. It was an only house with crosses up in every room. All of the family is Catholic and it showed immensely through their personalities. Everyone broke up and spread throughout the creaky old house.

Every household does sleepovers a little differently than all the rest, varying in scale and frequency among a wide variety of traits. Around three years ago from the current date, my family made plans for my younger cousins to have a week-long sleepover over at my house. Inside my mind, I was musing, “This better not get too loud.” Each of my cousins had a tendency to get pretty noisy with very little reprieve in-between, and it got amazingly ear-splitting. Tyler, the youngest, was the king of noise as it turned out. He was very bouncy and rambunctious, and verbally fought with my brother literally every single visit.

My first cats name was Justin Bieber. He was cream colored and fluffy and he had a sister named May-May. They were both pretty nice cats, I don’t remember them doing much. Then, my neighbor threatened to kill them if they kept sitting on his lawn chairs so that was the end of Justin and May-May. A majority of my childhood was pretty disappointing but not that disappointing.The household I grew up in was very secretive, for example my mom told me that my cats had just “left” rather than telling me that she gave them up to the ASPCA. I know she was trying to do what was best but, things like this always happen in the environment I grew up in.

I twist my fork into the pile of noodles right in front of me in the classiest way possible. I stuff the noodles in my mouth and I'm shocked. These are way better than I ever thought. I stuff even more noodles into my mouth. After five minutes of not so classy eating, I realize that I embarrassed myself in front of my relatives. I look down in embarrassment, but my aunt looks happy. Maybe I'm worrying too much about keeping up a good image in front of my own relatives. Why am I so nervous in front of them? That’s a dumb question because I already know why. Even though they're my biological family, I don't feel a connection to them.

When I first saw this sidewalk it reminded me of the town I moved here from, then looking closer at the details around it I realized that the image itself represents me and my family as a whole. I grew up in a small town in West Virginia, my family and I lived in a trailer park on a road called grapevine. It was just me, my older sister, my mother, and my father for about four years, then on halloween of 2006 my younger sister was born. Living in a small house with only two rooms and no other options, we had to put the crib in the closet of my mother’s room. Crime in West Virginia has always been bad. One night while we were all asleep someone shattered the window in the living room broke in and stole our xbox and television. Living in the trailer park with the baby proved to be more dangerous with people constantly moving in and out. People kept breaking in, someone even climbed in through the window of my room. We were all scared and my father was losing his mind with anger, he even punched a hole straight through the ceiling. Then we finally had enough of all the break ins, so we moved in with my grandmother down the road.

I knew from a young age that my family was what one would call, special. This “special” was my normal and my normal was no one else’s normal. Not a day has gone by that I have not been thankful for my Dad and his brothers, they have hard exteriors, but they’re mush on the inside. They are “professional idiots” my Mom would always say.

A home is a place where you have lived with your family for so long that it has, in a sense, become a part of you. It can be a structure, a neighborhood, a state or a country. In my case, when I think of home, I initially think of a building, my house. My home, however, is much more than just a house to me. It is also the place where I am always sure to find those I love most, my family. In a generation where there are so many broken homes, I am fortunate to live with and be raised by two parents, who still love each other. I have two older sisters, Sabreena and Trinity, and a dog, a poodle named Puffs. I live in a quaint, four bedroom house in a subdivision called Steeplechase in Avondale, Louisiana. My house is a place of safety and refuge. My neighborhood is full of friendly, familiar faces. I have been smiling, waiving and occasionally talking to these friends and acquaintances since we moved here when I was just two years old. Growing up in this environment has, I’m sure, contributed to certain character and personality traits, which have made me who I am today. I am ultimately a trusting individual, who is both friendly and hospitable.

No one can’t meet a family like mine’s. My family is well diversified. Every family member plays an important role in all my family’s lives. In my family, there are four people: my father, my mother, my little brother and me. My father is one who brings money home and is also responsible for organizing and planning family trips. My mother is the one who is in charge for making meals and makes sure everyone eats at the appropriate times. My little brother is the pet of the family. He actually doesn’t have any responsibilities, for he’s the pet. I am the rock of support in my family. I always go beyond my parents’ expectations. I also support my younger cousins and little brother, by being a role model that they can look up to. Another

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.