In this narrative I analyze my family genogram. I explore my family’s makeup and history. I state my family’s relationships as well as my own. Then I discuss the emotions I encountered as I developed my family genogram. In addition, I elaborate on the importance of constructing genograms with co participants. My mother and father were both born in El Salvador, San Salvador. They met in their country through a mutual friend, but never dated. My mother immigrated to the United States in the year of 1980. She was eighteen years old then. She finished high school and worked on a secretary degree. When she arrived to this country she co-resided with one of her male brother’s and his girlfriend. They helped each other economically and emotionally.…
My family and I consider ourselves to be primarily of Hispanic race and, more specifically, our ethnicity to be Mexican American. My mother’s side of the family is from the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico while my father’s side is from the states of Sinaloa and Sonora in Mexico. So, it’s safe to say my family is very Mexican. Both of my parent where actually born in Mexico but were brought over to the United states as infants. However, if we go back even further three generations before…
Military brats, a term used to describe children with at least one parent that works full-time for the armed forces. In a military family, moving is a common occurrence, at least in my case it was. During my childhood, I moved at least seven times, to places like Hawaii, Cuba, Virginia, and Germany. Moving was always one of the greatest dilemmas that I had to deal with while growing up. Just a few years ago, my family almost had to pack our bags again and move to Japan. My most recent move was…
In August of 2016, my great aunt at the age of 42 was diagnosed with stage four cancer in multiple organs. The immediate family was in shock from this news and was unsure how to handle this situation. They started treatment as soon as possible, but the family had an unusually request. The family didn’t want to know how much time she had left. I took this act as a sign of denial. Miracles can happen, I’ve witnessed enough throughout my life but it hurt me to see this family have complete faith…
At an early age, I didn’t understand the concept of an immigrant family and that our resources were very limited. It wasn’t until I got older, that I finally understood and recognized the struggle that my family went and still continues to go through. My realization began when I was about 11-years old and I noticed that my father not only worked for his own small gardening service, but that he also took my older brothers to work with him. I knew it was a time for serious measures because my…
One summer day years ago, I took a friends son with us to Busch Gardens, he was the same age as my 10 year old son and they we friends. As we drove up to park we were talking about biracial families and how some kids don’t look like their parents of a different color. Well, Jose was the boy’s name and I said to him, “Well, just because you have a different dad than your brother it’s okay because I wasn’t raised by my biological dad either.” Unbeknownst to me, Jose did not know that wasn’t his…
My family is really close. It might be because of the war that my mom and her siblings had to endure, or maybe because that’s just how they grew up. Either way, I’m thankful for it. Or, at least, I thought I was. In Cambodian, all aunts and uncles older than your parents are called “Oum.” All aunts younger than your parents are called “Ming,” while all younger uncles are called “Pou.” Older relatives in your generation are called “Bong,” while all younger ones are called “Oun.”…
Chapter One: Family I never knew my mother as she died when I was an infant. My stepmother did not miss an occasion to tell me that it was my fault that she died. Father had not said as much, but he did not speak of her either. Regarding her, I learned never to ask as the topic was painful for him to disclose. “A child needs a mother,” others often informed my father, “and a man needs a wife.” He seemed to have agreed, or evidently succumbed, to those comments since he remarried with great…
“Family. Where life begins, and love never ends.” Family can show love and happiness but sometimes you don't realize it. It all began when I started to feel horribly sick in the morning. My head felt nauseous. Once I got up from sleeping, I felt very weak. I went to school like that and got sent back because I felt like I was going to puke during school. When I got back home my mom checked my temperature and I was alright. I told her I felt very weak and wanted to vomit. She gave me medicine…
Yunzhe Wang Family History Narrative “A simple decision can change the world”, this is a few things I learned from movies and fiction novels. But I know there are millions of children who are desired to move to the big city and to find a job to change their life. The same idea lasts from generation to generation. But it’s never an easy thing to do. There are many ways for people to accomplish their goals, like business and marriage, but these can sometimes become controversial. The only thing…