The Importance Of Family Relationships

Register to read the introduction… This unspoken rule has played out in my family for many generations. Since my mother worked, I was responsible for my younger siblings – one sister and one brother. This meant I had to be sure homework was done, dinner was served, chores were done and curfew was enforced. I took this responsibility on very young in life. Because of this, I was very mature for my age. So much so, that my mother nicknamed me “Old Lady”. The younger siblings dared not disrespect their elders and we truly believed that it took a village to raise a child. Our family, both immediate and extended, was that village. In my family, if you get in trouble with one person, you are in trouble with everyone. I remember an incident when my cousin Michelle was “mouthing off” at my grandmother. Not only did my grandmother “pop” her in the mouth, but when my two aunts found out about it she got popped again. Then when her mom found out, she got a whipping. Needless to say, she never mouthed off again. My uncle served as the self-appointed big brother and bodyguard. His nieces were untouchable! And if you dared to act inappropriately, we would have preferred to be put out of our misery than to sit through an hour lecture from him, which was a definite. According to Social Scientist, Bella DePaulo, “what uncles do can have a …show more content…
She was a very stern and religious woman. Because of that we were raised in the church. She made sure we studied our bibles and we had to remember bible verses for candy. She did not shower us with money and material possessions because she wanted to give us something that would last forever – love for Jesus, love for family and love for ourselves. Lorraine was all about having a strong family unit. If we wanted money, we had to earn it by doing chores (this was outside of our “assigned” chores). Because of this, we grew accustomed to working for our money and having strong work ethics. In psychologist Mary Pipher’s essay, Beliefs about Families, she writes, “Ethics, rather than laws, determine most of our behavior; rules of civility seem to be crumbling in America” (410-411). As an adult, I agree with Pipher’s statement. Family influences are eroding from our society. We live in a world of self-centeredness and rudeness. However, Pipher’s statement is not true with grandma Lorraine’s family! Having strong Christian beliefs, Lorraine’s mantra was “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. My grandmother held etiquette classes because she refused to have grandchildren that were rude and uncivilized – especially in church or at a restaurant. Even into adulthood we were subject to our grandmother’s life lectures and pearls