10 Lessons on what Family Means to Me :)
For as long as I can remember, I have known what it felt like to be a part of a large family. It is fun and fulfilling, but also time consuming and often troublesome. For every family celebration there is always some family drama to match. Nevertheless, family has always been a staple in who I am and more importantly who I want to be.
Both my mother and father come from HUGE families. Between both sides I have easily 15 (including great) aunties and uncles and over 25 cousins. In this post I hope to outline some of the highlights and lessons learned from having a family of this size.
#1 Family is forever
Like it or not, you do NOT get to choose your family — but you DO have to experience them. The idea of family is much bigger than you or even you interactions with others in the family. Family is a living breathing concept that brings together people of the same history in a way that is immortal. Because of this, I believe family is forever.
#2 Family defines love
What do you do when you love someone so much you want to spend forever with them? You get married and become family! This alone is sufficient proof to prove my point, but I can elaborate some more. I grew up with two siblings, a mom and a dad. I have fought with every single one of them more times than I can count; however, I have always made up with them in the end no matter how big the argument because above all else, I love my family.
#3 Trust and respect are earned in family
We have all seen the TV show where there’s that one member of the family always messing up and the whole family still loves them but kinda just gives up on them or deems them as hopeless… this is because — in life — trust and respect are earned through actions. And family is no different. I placed this point next to the point about love because I think there are some common misconceptions about love: one being that it implies responsibility. I can LOVE you and not trust or respect you. If you steal from me routinely, I can love you without inviting you into my home. If your substance abuse sets a bad example for my children, I can love you without letting you into their lives while they’re young. If you are my family, you have my unconditional love. But that does not mean you automatically have my trust and respect — those are earned.
#4 to be continued…
