Narrative Essay On Emotional Triangles

In my three generations lie some emotional triangles. The main one is the one perpetuated by my maternal aunt, Janet Travis. She was the first individual in our family who came to the United States of America in 1964 and paved the way for her siblings. When she left, the relationships with her siblings became strained due to distance, whilst the siblings who remained in Trinidad maintained their relationship. During this time, my aunt would send money to her parents and her siblings. Instead of my maternal grandparents dealing with their financial problems, they would involve their daughter. As time progress and her parents died, my aunt continued to send money for some of her siblings; she rarely sent money for my family because unlike her …show more content…
Most people avoid her. She made herself the matriarch of the Hall family and caused a lot of internal fighting. The family has never been whole again, so we do not have family gatherings. This emotional triangle is always changing, but the pinnacle of the triangle is always my Aunt Janet. Sometimes our relationship would be functional with our other family members and then she would include herself with malicious lies and cause tension. Today, she has realized how isolated everyone has made her and she repeatedly states that she was always so nice to everyone and this is the thanks she received. In 2008, my cousin, Paul, her son, died and that was the only thing that drew the family together. She is still grieving and feels isolated and her children believed that caused her nervous breakdown this year. When she had her nervous breakdown, no one went to see her besides one out of her three children. It is disheartening when my Aunt Janet inserts herself or gets inserted into situations, it causes problems. Some state that she is angry because she sent money for her family and think they all owe her something. Many are angry that my aunt was ashamed of her mother when she told people that her mother was her maid. Also, that she financially ruined many of her siblings by getting credit cards and loans in their names without their knowledge. Whatever the reason, it is sad to see how one person can cause …show more content…
Very few members in my three generations are married. On my mother’s side, the unmarried women are strong individuals who carry out things for themselves whilst hoping to get married. My mother is the only one who is married among her sisters and they feel that she is weak in dealing with my father and she needs to be stronger and leave my father. On my father’s side, my uncles, Lloyd and Luther, and my father, who are married, believe in traditional roles. For example, they believe women should do the things society has said a woman should do, but they also would gladly let her assume the societal male roles, while they do nothing. I would say they are lazy. But my paternal grandmother has always been a pillar of strength, so it is difficult to see how my father and uncles could be so lazy. As a child, my father would present himself as a hard worker at work and at our church, but at home, he did nothing but complain about work and church and having to do things at home. These roles showed me that women are strong and men are lazy and weak. I have also realized that I cannot perpetuate the stereotype of societal male and female roles, but be open to the fact that these men do not represent all