How close are you to your family?
By ddhawkins63
@ddhawkins63 (682)
United States
June 23, 2009 9:13pm CST
How close are you all with your families? I am very close to my mother and her side of the family. Not so much with my father and his side of the family. Me and my children are very close as well. My father and his side of the family seemed to do everything they could to keep me and my brother as far away from them as possible. More so with me than with my brother. I never really understood why, but it was always like that with them, even when I was very young. My mother and her side of the family are the complete opposites. We all get along very well and expect to hear from each other often as with me and my kids. When we don't get along or disagree about something, we get it off our minds, fight a little and make up within minutes. I don't understand why a family would push kids away as my fathers family did with me and my brother. So, how close are you all to your families. Do you favor one side of the family more than the other side. Did you ever get treated poorly by one side of the family for no apparent reason?
11 responses
@Poison_Girl (4150)
• United States
24 Jun 09
I'm not very close to my family. I've never felt like I could talk to them or anything. And I only have two cousins and they're both quite a few years older than me. My dad was the only one in his family to get married and only one of my mom's brothers ever got married. I'm not sure if this is what you were asking, but there you go. I've moved to another state while all of my family is still back in the area where I grew up. I don't mind. I love where I live and I love the fact that they can't just drop by unannounced.
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
24 Jun 09
Wow, yes, that does shed some light on the topic. That is exactly what I meant. I guess everyone has a different way in which they feel about their families. My boyfriend moved away from his home in Florida when he was young. He loves his family but I think that maybe he also likes being away from them haha... They are great people, he just likes his privacy and they are definitely not the type of people that leave you alone for very long. That is a good thing I guess. I just moved to a place that is a tiny bit away but I can still go see them when I want. It's only about half an hour away, but they don't come up here cause they feel it's too far haha
@Poison_Girl (4150)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Oh, how nice!! My family probably wouldn't think half an hour is all that far away, but at the same time, they probably wouldn't just drop by all that often, either. I'm one who REALLY likes my privacy, though. I don't like when anyone just drops by unannounced and I definitely don't like when anyone goes through my stuff and just helps themselves. I put things behind doors for a reason, people. If you just open the doors and go through my stuff, then it kinda defeats the purpose! Not really sure why stuff like this drives me crazy, but like I said, I guess I'm just a private person.
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Yes, I am an extremely private person as well. It would drive me crazy to have someone do that. My family doesn't drive the distance for a couple reasons. My mother drinks a lot so she won't drink and drive. My father is very ill and can't travel that far. My brother lives farther away and even when he didn't, we didn't see each other that much even though we are close in heart. My daughter doesn't have the gas money to drive that far all the time and my son doesn't have a car. I just say if I don't want them around too haha. We are pretty open like that.
@scififan43 (2434)
• United States
25 Jun 09
I am not sure which side I my family I am close to. but I would say it would have to be my fathers side. we have spent so much time with them over the years like during holidays, christmas and thanksiving. i see more of my aunts and uncels and coousions for more of my moms side. my moms side i do not see that much in fact most of my moms relitives have passed away. my moms brother, my uncel of cousres just passed away this last month. so many of her aunts and uncels have long since passed away as well.
@scififan43 (2434)
• United States
26 Jun 09
yes it my dads side of the family that tends to dominate. if fact we are have a family gettogether this weekend.
1 person likes this
@reckon21 (3479)
• Philippines
25 Jun 09
I am very close to my family.
We got along fine and sometimes problems arises.
We quarrel sometimes but we can settle it and forget it.
The good thing about having a family is that you can depend
on them. They accepted and love you for who you are. I'm not
particularly close to my father's relatives neither on my
mother's side. When I'm still young I have this notion that
all my relatives are rich and don't care about us.
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
There seems to be a pattern here. Most people have either said they are close to both sides or to their mothers side more than the father's. I don't think I have seen one response that said someone was closer to their fathers side. Very interesting. Thank you for your input.
@ddfreedie (690)
• India
25 Jun 09
ours is a closly knit family of four..my mom, dad, bro and me...whereever we go we go together and whatever be the matter we used to discuss it with everyone...i thank God for giving me such a family...i love my family..there is also another person who is going to join in our familt in november...my bros wife...wish our joy multiplies and sorrow divides..
happy mylotting
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Oh wow, that is great to hear. Sounds like you were one of the lucky ones to have a great family all the way around. Bless you!
@geniustiger (1694)
• Philippines
25 Jun 09
So far in my family tree I'm so closed with my
father side. It's because we used to live near
the house of my father side. We see each other
daily, talk, share, company, and help one another.
Not like with my mom's side that they are far from
our home. So that is why we are so close to my fathers
side because nearest is the sweetest. And we are so
closed to each other whatever problems encountered
helping hand in hand.
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Yes, distance can make a big difference as to how close you are to one side or the other. Thank you for your response!
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Thanks for the comment. It's nice that you think so highly of your father that he is your idol even though you aren't close.
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
24 Jun 09
My family and I live very far away from each other but we are emotionally very close. So close that when one of them thinks of me I can hear them call my name and they say they can hear me, too, when I think of them.
I was never close to my dad's side but I'm close to my dad. My mom's side I was very attached to but they've all crossed over and are waiting for me when it's my turn to pass. I look forward to that, I miss them so very much! My oldest brother is there, too, but I see him sometimes in my dreams.
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Aww, that's so sweet. I wish that I could see some of my family in dreams. I would love to see my grandmother again and my cousin and my step son, but they don't come in dreams anymore. You have lost a lot of family. Do you have any other family still here? I'm sorry to hear about your losses. It should be a great reunion when you finally meet them again.
@maikarumike (458)
• Malaysia
24 Jun 09
My family and I are quite close I would say.I have been treating each one of them as a friend as well and occasionally we would be out to have dinner outside and movies and have a long chat to share our problems with one another and solve it.My family knows most of my friends and I always invite them over for lunch and dinner and my parents could just communicate with them as if they are friend for so long already.
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
24 Jun 09
Sounds like you have a very together family! It's good to hear that there are a few people out there with that! Thanks for sharing!
@kalaga (547)
• United States
24 Jun 09
Iam very close to my mom's side of family.but not much with my father's side.They are kind of different in everything from my mother's side.i don't like the one who don't follow certain rules and maintain certain things.I think i don't have to tell that they never followed any.My mom's side family is very supportive also in all the things in life.
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
Yes, that is much how my family is. Thank you for your response
@wittytemptress (43)
• Philippines
24 Jun 09
Well, I can say that I am so close to my family that I never want to move out even if I'm married. Well, it's just that we had something special. My family is a small one but they're a treasure to me. Even if sometimes, we had disagreements, just talk about it, have solutions and later on, we're ok. My mom and dad rarely fights and I've seen how they love each other. Same as to my siblings, we're always there for each other and when someone needs help, we're always ready to give each other a helping hand. As a saying goes, every family has its own unique culture. When one finds a partner someday, each of them should accept each of their family, they may be opposites but it's always good to have an extra understanding to avoid any conflicts.
1 person likes this
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
24 Jun 09
Wow, that's great that you are that close with your family. I am assuming that you mean you are close to your dad's side and your mother's side? I don't know a lot of people that would want to live with their families even after they got married. I'm not sure that it's because they don't want to be around them at all but more a matter of privacy. Thanks for your input. That is very interesting.
@faridii (79)
• Pakistan
24 Jun 09
I think everyone here is close to his or her family. everyone need a Father to Guide, a mother who cares for him/her, a brother for support in many aspects of life and a sister to play pranks with. i love my family too. and i must say here that i cannot live without my family. this is very touchy topic to discuss coz i don't have words to describe my feelings about my family.
@ddhawkins63 (682)
• United States
25 Jun 09
There aren't words to describe families, that is for sure! They are so amazing and are there to support no matter what. At least, that is what it should be like. I don't know that everyone needs their natural parents though. I am much closer to my step father than I am to my own father. I guess because my father was never there when I was growing up. I just didn't get to know him enough. That was his doing, not mine or my brothers. It was life choices that he made that destroyed our relationships.
