What families do for each other
What do families do for each other? In a few words, ALMOST ANYTHING!!! This week we reviewed a study done on immigrant families who came to the United States illegally in order to give their children a better life. In most of the families studied, the father came first and got settled and then their families came. What the families initially thought would be a year separation in most families became a 3 year separation. That in itself would be a huge stress on a family but there were so many other stresses put on the family. When the parents were asked why they would do this, it was for their children. It was to allow their children to have the chance to live a better life than they had. When asked if their life was better here in the United States, almost all of the parents said, our life is not better but it's worth the sacrifice. As I studied this immigrant experience, I thought about a recent experience in my own life and what my family would do or what they have done for me.
I come from a very large nuclear family. I have 6 sisters and 2 brothers. My husband has one sister and two brothers. Between the two families, our children have 57 first cousins, two sets of grandparents and 22 aunts and uncles. That is a lot of people to love them and pull for them. We recently experienced the loss of my beloved husband and the father of our 5 children. It was very sudden and unexpected and to say that we have a hole in our family and hearts is a huge understatement. Since this experience, I have seen first hand what family does for each other and that they would do almost anything to support my family in our time of need.
When a family member dies, there are so many arrangements to be made and decisions that are so difficult. Through this process, my sisters and family literally held me up. They made sure I wasn't alone unless I wanted to be alone, they walked me through the decisions that had to be made. They helped me make the decisions that I needed to make and when I wasn't capable of any more, they took over as much as they could. They made flight arrangements for my children to come from the different places they lived and opened their homes to the numerous people who would be coming for the funeral. For almost two weeks, each of my sisters and their families put their lives on hold to come together and lift me when I needed it most.
That was almost six months ago and they continue to lift and support me and my children. I realize that I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such support but as I reflected on the things we learned this week in our class and especially the hardships that the immigrant families were willing to endure for their families, my faith in the family has been strengthened. I have so much compassion for those around me that I don't think I had before I lost my husband. Now when I look around, I look for opportunities to strengthen other's and their families and encourage those bonds that tie us to our families and to each other as the family of man.
I come from a very large nuclear family. I have 6 sisters and 2 brothers. My husband has one sister and two brothers. Between the two families, our children have 57 first cousins, two sets of grandparents and 22 aunts and uncles. That is a lot of people to love them and pull for them. We recently experienced the loss of my beloved husband and the father of our 5 children. It was very sudden and unexpected and to say that we have a hole in our family and hearts is a huge understatement. Since this experience, I have seen first hand what family does for each other and that they would do almost anything to support my family in our time of need.
When a family member dies, there are so many arrangements to be made and decisions that are so difficult. Through this process, my sisters and family literally held me up. They made sure I wasn't alone unless I wanted to be alone, they walked me through the decisions that had to be made. They helped me make the decisions that I needed to make and when I wasn't capable of any more, they took over as much as they could. They made flight arrangements for my children to come from the different places they lived and opened their homes to the numerous people who would be coming for the funeral. For almost two weeks, each of my sisters and their families put their lives on hold to come together and lift me when I needed it most.
That was almost six months ago and they continue to lift and support me and my children. I realize that I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by such support but as I reflected on the things we learned this week in our class and especially the hardships that the immigrant families were willing to endure for their families, my faith in the family has been strengthened. I have so much compassion for those around me that I don't think I had before I lost my husband. Now when I look around, I look for opportunities to strengthen other's and their families and encourage those bonds that tie us to our families and to each other as the family of man.
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