# YOUR  Family !



## Keesha (Dec 20, 2018)

How was your family life?
Did you have brothers and / or sisters?
Did you have a large family or small one?
Did you get along with your family?
What lessons did you learn from being in your family? 
If you could trade families would you and why? 
Do you have any regrets regarding your family?


Please tell us about your family using the questions above or create your own narrative. 

I’d like to know more about you.


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## Marie5656 (Dec 20, 2018)

*I grew up in an Italian/Polish family. As with many cultures, very rich in tradition.  Our Italian side (fathers) had more of the family gatherings through the years. Christmas parties, Thanksgivings.  Everything.
I had two older brothers.  Both my parents were of 8 or 9 children in each family.  So I had LOTS of cousins to make up for my lack of siblings.  Especially since my brothers were much older than me. (10 and 15 years).  I was closer to my middle brother.  My oldest moved out for college when I was 2 years old!!  Then he married when I was 5 or 6.
Many of the holiday gatherings were at our house.  

*


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## hollydolly (Dec 20, 2018)

Dysfunctional family life.... yes many brothers and sisters,  Yes I would have traded my immediate family , ....HUGE extended family, aunts uncles and cousins


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## SeaBreeze (Dec 20, 2018)

My family life was good, we didn't have much money but the love was there and we never did without.
I had one older brother and two older sisters.  My brother and one of my sisters passed on before they ever became seniors.  I have one sister left.
I would say it was a small family, 4 kids and my parents.
Yes, always got along with family members.
I learned to make the best of what I had, treat others kindly and be thankful for all I did have.
No, I would never trade families, mine was just fine for me.
My only regrets are not keeping closer contact in my adult years, moved out of state and didn't communicate as much as I should have especially with my mother.


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## Aunt Bea (Dec 20, 2018)

When I was little my family life was pretty chaotic but it was the only life I had so it wasn't a case of being normal or strange it was just the way it was.

I got along with my family by staying out of the way and being more of an observer than an active participant.  

I'm not sure if I was born to be an independent introverted loner of if my early family life made me one.

I learned that the way the members of my family act is a reflection on them and not a reflection on me. I also learned that you only have one family and you need to stand by them and love them even if you don't particularly like them.

I never considered trading my family for another or wishing that I was someone else.

My only regret is that we didn't get to know each other a little better, it might have made things easier.


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## jujube (Dec 20, 2018)

Keesha said:


> How was your family life?
> Did you have brothers and / or sisters?
> Did you have a large family or small one?
> Did you get along with your family?
> ...



I had a good childhood.  My parents had as good a marriage as one could expect and I had two sets of adoring grandparents and lots of other relatives. 

Five sisters (three that were my birth sisters and two more who came to us when their parents died tragically).  Four are still alive.  

My family had its "warts and blemishes" but I truly believe we were the last functional family left on earth, after hearing about other peoples' childhoods. My parents were pillars of the community (which didn't come in handy at times as I couldn't get in much trouble) and were involved in everything we did (altogether too much for my tastes in my more "sensitive" adolescent years).  

We got along as well as seven women and one poor man could get along in a three-bedroom house with only one bathroom.  We girls fought like cats and dogs, but then what sisters don't?  It was never anything serious, though. We got over it fast enough.  

We didn't have a lot of money but my mother could squeeze a nickel until the buffalo's nose bled.  We got everything we "needed" and a lot of what we "wanted".  My parents gardened, so there was always healthy food.  Nobody was beaten (we did get switched on occasion....probably only 10% of the times we deserved to be switched).  I guess a good barometer for what life in our house was like was that most of our friends liked to hang around at the house.  My parents fed anyone who was there and we almost always had someone living with us for a while when they were down on their luck.

What lessons did I learn?  I guess it was to live within your means and try to be as kind as you can to others.

Trade families?  Oh, there were many times I was pretty sure I had been left on their doorstep, after having been kidnapped from a passing royal family by gypsies.  Obviously, someone as fine and dandy as *I* was couldn't have sprung from the same genes that the rest of that tacky crew did.....LOL.  I got over it.  

No regrets.  I just wish my father had lived longer (he died at 70) to enjoy his grandchildren and great-grandchildren more.  I still have my mother though, and she plans on living to 105.


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## C'est Moi (Dec 20, 2018)

I had a great childhood; typical of the time.   Stay-at-home mother and hard working father, both kind and gentle people.   One older sister and one older brother.  As the youngest, my dad called me "the baby" until he died; I was in my early 50's.   I loved my mama, and I absolutely adored my father.  

We lived on a farm and it was a great time to be a kid, with grandparents living about 1/2 mile down the dirt road.  

Would NEVER trade my family.   Absolutely no regrets.


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## Ken N Tx (Dec 21, 2018)

Tomorrow we will have our family Christmas ,imediate family, 35 of 39 will be there!!!


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## Ronni (Dec 21, 2018)

_How was your family life?
_Good.  Quiet.  I was an "oops" baby, my Mum thought she was beginning early menopause.  Imagine her surprise when she want to the doctor because she wasn't feeling great, and dropped the bombshell that she was doing pretty well for someone in their late 40's who was 4 1/2 months pregnant!!! 

_Did you have brothers and / or sisters?
_One brother and one sister.  Both considerably older than me because of my late appearance in the family.  Brother passed away a few years ago, sister lives in Florida. 
_
Did you have a large family or small one?
_Mostly I was raised as an only child, and honestly it felt like I was being raised by grandparents rather than parents because they were so much older than my friends' parents.  Brother and sister had moved out/married by the time I was old enough to remember much about them.  My parents moved to Australia from England so the extended family were all still in England. 

_Did you get along with your family?
_Had a great relationship with my family, was particularly close to my brother.  My sister is a very controlling sort, and she was very intrusive in my life...acted more like my mother than my sister.  Because she was 10 years older than me and because my Mum was a very relaxed parent, I guess she felt she should.  We haven't seen each other in many years.

_What lessons did you learn from being in your family? 
_I learned the value of hard work and an orderly life from my Dad.  I learned to cook and keep house from my Mum.  I don't think they're they kind of lessons you're asking about but I haven't had enough coffee yet to be more profound.   _
_
_If you could trade families would you and why? 
_The only thing I might have traded would have been for younger parents....well, a younger Mum anyway, my dad was always very youthful. He was the crazy man riding his Harley when he was in his 60's.  Where do you think I get my own bohemian crazy streak from?      My Mum was typical for her generation, very Ozzie and Harriet type family dynamic, she stayed home while Dad worked. She was very traditional as a wife and mother.  She never even learned how to drive!  I loved both my parents dearly, they were very good parents. 

_Do you have any regrets regarding your family?
_Really not.  Nothing I can think of.


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## ClassicRockr (Dec 21, 2018)

Like Holly's, pretty dysfunctional! I could write a rather LARGE paragraph about my upbringing, but will just say this...…….real mom and dad divorced when I was around 6. Neither wanted me, so I was sent to live with a widowed Aunt and her daughter, until Aunt done a case of child-abuse to me when I was in the 7th grade. Taken away from her to live with a couple, supposedly distant cousins, that had never had kids. Had some real "ups and downs" with them, but they did show me love. Just before high school graduation, enlisted in the Navy. 

Didn't have a really rough life, as some kids do, but rough enough for me.


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## Gary O' (Dec 21, 2018)

*How was your family life?* 
Probably pretty good (I wasn’t there much) 

*Did you have brothers and / or sisters? *
Older sis, much younger bro (spoiled little bastard)
*
Did you have a large family or small one? *
They got large…I think the word is obese
*
Did you get along with your family? *
Yes, when I was there
Learned from my sister that arguing didn’t accomplish much
So I just did what I did, and agreed when pressed (very frustrating for them)
And stayed away until they were just happy to see me

*What lessons did you learn from being in your family? *
Have as few kids as possible, notwithstanding those heats of the moment and out of condoms sessions
*
If you could trade families would you and why? *
I wouldn’t have minded being Sophia Loren’s foster child
Why? Need I mention feeding time?

*Do you have any regrets regarding your family?*
None
They’re all dead…’cept my little fat brother

(actually, my family was normal…..then there was me, stirring the pot)


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## Pappy (Dec 21, 2018)

I had a wonderful family growing up. I guess we were considered poor folk compared to most, but growing up in the country was a fun experience. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents as mom and dad we’re involved in a divorce. 

I have 3 half brothers and 1 half sister. I rarely see them and usually at a funeral.

i had to entertain myself as very few young people lived on the ‘hill.’ Spent a great amount of time in our woods or raising my garden. We had Concord grape vines and all types of wild berries on our land.

Could I trade my family.....never in a million years.


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## ClassicRockr (Dec 21, 2018)

Oh, I forgot, I was the youngest my dad had out of four kids. I really never got to know my two step-sisters, but do know my step-brother. I wasn't raised around any of them. Both sisters have passed and my step-brother and I talk on the phone, but that's it. Two very, very different personalities and lifestyles.

My "supposed" cousins/Guardian mom and dad were awfully strict with me, and all of the neighboring farm kids knew it, but not as strict as the Navy was. I learned that very quickly.


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## Ronni (Dec 21, 2018)

Gary O' said:


> *What lessons did you learn from being in your family? *
> Have as few kids as possible, notwithstanding those heats of the moment and out of condoms sessions



:tmi::wtf::what1::lol1:


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## RadishRose (Dec 21, 2018)

My family life was pretty good, as an only child; until illness struck both of my parents resulting in their early deaths. So, I was orphaned at 13 and 16. Stayed with relatives.


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## Trade (Dec 21, 2018)

Dysfunctional. I was an only child. Old man died when I was 9 but by then my parents had been separated for a few years. Mom died when I was 20. On my own ever since. That which does not kill us, makes us stronger. At least that's what they say.


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## hollydolly (Dec 21, 2018)

RadishRose said:


> My family life was pretty good, as an only child; until illness struck both of my parents resulting in their early deaths. So, I was orphaned at 13 and 16. Stayed with relatives.


 As an only child, that must have been just like the world had been taken from you RR... so sorry!!!


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## RadishRose (Dec 21, 2018)

aw, thanks HD. I know your situation too...we go on.


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## Capt Lightning (Dec 21, 2018)

My parents had 4 'only children'.  I was by far the youngest - the old girl probably thought she was too old to get pregnant.  I might as well have been an only child as I had nothing in common with my siblings - or my parents for that matter. 
My sister and brothers similarly had little in common.

My parents were very unambitious and totally incapable of constructing a reasoned argument.  I was constantly getting into trouble with them and the only way they could answer was to hit me.  This stopped when I threatened to hit back.
They were hard to please, but  what they really wanted was to be given the credit for our success.  I realised much later that under her stoical shell, my mother was really insecure and probably thought that life had dealt her a bad hand.

I married and moved away. My parents both lived to 81 and after that, I more or less lost all contact with the family. 

Would I change it - too right I would.  I would choose my parents more carefully.


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## Keesha (Dec 21, 2018)

RadishRose said:


> My family life was pretty good, as an only child; until illness struck both of my parents resulting in their early deaths. So, I was orphaned at 13 and 16. Stayed with relatives.


This was tough to read. I had no idea. Did you get orphaned out after your parents died and then three years later orphaned out to other people? 


hollydolly said:


> As an only child, that must have been just like the world had been taken from you RR... so sorry!!!



I am also. I think she is probably the kindest soul on here. Your soul is boundless RaddishRose:hug:


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## Keesha (Dec 21, 2018)

Trade said:


> That which does not kill us, makes us stronger. At least that's what they say.



It might be true but I’ve always hated this saying


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## RadishRose (Dec 21, 2018)

:chocolate:  Here's that candy I promised you, Keesha.


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## Keesha (Dec 21, 2018)

RadishRose said:


> :chocolate:  Here's that candy I promised you, Keesha.


 :shussh: 

Thank you! :cheers1:


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## Sassycakes (Dec 23, 2018)

I was lucky to have the best parents in the world. They were very loving and caring to their 3 children. I was the youngest and I have to admit I was spoiled, but so was my older brother and sister. They had my brother first and 11yrs later my sister and 2 years later I came along. My Mother lost my twin in her 3rd month of pregnancy and really didn't believe I would survive. I think my brother really enjoyed when he was the only child so he never was nice to me or my sister. When I was 7 yrs old he had his first child and I automatically became Auntie Barb will do it. They moved in to my parents house after my brother got out of the Army and his son was a few months old at the time. So for 5yrs I did everything to help with his son and then he had his second son and again I was always responsible to watch them. Over the years he got colder and colder toward me and my sister and even our parents. Right after I got married my brother moved from Philadelphia to Georgia because of a job promotion. After moving he hardly ever stayed in touch with us. His 2 sons called all the time and when they were old enough they even took trips up to see us. He also had a daughter who only kept in touch when she needed something. My brother passed away 2 yrs ago and never had been close to us all the years before. He never even called my sister when her Husband passed away or even when he son had a stroke and became paralyzed when he was only 30yrs old.  Other then my immediate family I had over 80 cousins and most of them were wonderful. With the exception of  not having my brother's love everything else was perfect.


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