Familia

 

Family

     When I think of family the thing that comes to mind is how important they are to us. They will always be there when you need them and will stick by you through thick and thin. They comfort and encourage you. They give you advice, build you up when you’re down and hope the best for you. Most importantly, they love you unconditionally and never give up on you. This is my family; they were all these things for me. Even when I screwed up and let them down over and over again they never gave up on me. Being raised by my grandparents because my parents weren’t in our lives, they tried to give me and my little brother a sense of normalcy as best they could. They were very much involved in our lives. They made sure we were involved in sports. My grandpa was my baseball coach and my grandmother was our team mother. I have very fond memories of those times from going with my grandpa to buy me a new baseball glove and uniforms to eating from the snack bar and celebrate winning a game by going out to eat pizza. My grandparents were and still are the best.

     I’m so thankful for my family. My wife and I feel truly blessed that our children and our family are close. My son and my daughter have been close from the beginning. My daughter was three years old when her brother was born and it seems from the moment we brought him home she became very protective of him. We always used to say “She thinks she’s his mother”. It was so cute.

     On the other extreme, sadly to say, there are the dysfunctional families that aren’t very close at all. You could see the jealousy that they have toward each other. Brothers and sisters try to out-do one another. They don’t offer each other help because they’d rather see them fail or not do better than themselves. They spread gossip and rumors about each other. It seems like the sibling rivalry has got the best of them. It’s sad because their children might learn to behave in the same way.

     If I could give any advice on family I would say be grateful for the family you have. Uplift one another and always hope the best for them, they are a part of you and you are a part of them.