Family

 Family

My family means many things to me. Families have many sides. In a family where your dad has over 13 siblings and your mom's, mom has about 9 siblings it can feel hard to navigate. Growing up in a family was everything. When you had a birthday when you were going out when you were hanging out during your free time it was always with your family. I didn't mind, I loved hanging out with my family. Having such a large family but still having so much in common with them made us friends and family. It was comforting to know someone always had your back. So when I was around the age of 8 years old and my mom and dad got separated for various reasons it felt like I lost half my family. I was so confused as an eight-year-old because everything I ever knew was family. I didn't really have many friends. The friends I did have I only saw as " school friends". Although I didn't know many of the younger kids on my dad's side so with the help of some friendships I was fine. Then at the beginning of high school, there was this big fight that broke out between my grandma and one of her siblings. It was a pretty big fight and it hasn't felt the same since then. Most of my cousins I don't really see anymore and it felt like I lost most of my family. My immediate family is still pretty big with my mom, my brother, my sister, my uncle, my two aunts, my two cousins, and my grandma. However, going from having such a tight-knit family where family was everything to 10 now having just my immediate family did really affect me. My family and still the idea of family is everything and that you don't need friends but if I hadn't made the friends I had I probably would have been in a much darker place. I'm still able to be determined and go straight ahead of my goals in life and stay in college because of those friends. My family's advice sticks with me and I'm still able to rely on my immediate family who I love dearly. I have been opening up a little more and have reached out to some of my father's side of my family. I haven't really spoken to them in like 12 years. Family is difficult. My family when I think about it sometimes frustrates me and sometimes makes me feel the safest and most comfortable in the world but it's sometimes hard to navigate how I should treat certain situations and how I should treat things after certain things have happened. There are those like my sister and my uncles and aunts who are a bit more forgiving and lenient. They help me to reach back out to some of the family members that we haven't talked to in a very long time. I still love all my family members but it's just a bit more complicated than when I was 8 years old and family was everything. In "The Other Wes Moore" one of the Wes has a brother who tells him to stay out of trouble but seeing his brother Tony out doing crimes but making all this money he decides to do the same. For the Wes more that is now successful his mom is a big reason why. His mom sees him going down a bad road and she sends him to military school at a very crucial time for him. Family Can help you and inspire you but sometimes family is difficult.