Does having a family matter? The first question I should ask is, what is family? According to the U.S. Census Bureau "a family includes a householder and one or more people living in the same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption." When it comes to a family, there can be different types. There is a traditional or "nuclear family" or there is an extended family.
The first type of family someone can have is a traditional family or some may refer to it has a nuclear family. What that means is when a married couple and their children all live together. The other type of family is an extended family which can be defined as when relatives like grandparents for example all live in the same house as the parents and their children. Me, I was raised in a nuclear family. Growing up I lived with both my parents and my sister in one house. Now I live in Philadelphia with just my sister, away from all of my other 15 family members. Looking back, I didn't live in an extended family when everyone was under one roof. But I have always been very close to all of my family members including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Every holiday, every birthday, sometimes even every activity one takes part in, the whole family goes to support and we are always communicating and talking to one another. So even though I live a traditional family way, I really live as an extended family.
So getting to my question of does having a family matter, I would have to say yes. Being in such a family has made me the man I am today. Family matters especially when growing up. They are suppose to be loving and warm people who you can go to in need of help or personal struggles. Whether you grow up or live in either a nuclear, extended or any kind of family, its important to have that.
Charles Marren
ReplyDeleteI found what you said about how even though you live in a traditional family way, you actually live in an extended family very interesting. My household structure consisted really of only me and my mom, but because of my extended family members living close by they were always in the picture, so even though I grew up in only a two person household I too feel I actually grew up in an extended family. I think the whole term extended family is way to tricky categorize because even though they might not live with you, they can still be completely and constantly be in the present of your life as you grow up and play an important part of your growing process just as the members of your household would.