Blog Wk 7 - My First Priority

My immediate family consists of 7 including me. My family as a whole is pretty large though. I have many cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and my only living grandparent. I was never able to meet my dad’s mom because we lost her to breast cancer before I was born. I was able to meet my mom’s parents though and got to spend a lot of time with them up until they passed away in 2005. Growing up I remember spending a lot of time with my cousins running around my grandma’s house like wild animals; sometimes barefoot but always carefree. I’ve always been easily amused so growing up with the bare minimum didn’t seem to bother me. The move from my grandparents to our own house was very exciting. I finally got to experience what it was like to have a little privacy, despite sharing a room with my sisters. We moved to a 3 bedroom house from all 7 of us living in a tiny trailer on my grandparents drive way so of course a little privacy came along with the new environment.

When I got into my teens a lot changed not only with my physical appearance but with my personality and attitude. I must admit I was probably very difficult to deal with at times. In regards to my family I started to alienate myself from them because I had come to the conclusion that my friends were more important to me. I would spend countless hours on Yahoo’s chat messenger or on the telephone talking to them and ignoring my own siblings. When I turned 15 I “fell in love” with a boy I met at a local show so along with that came more distance from my family.  I missed out on a lot of things such as birthday parties, holiday events and family gatherings because I opted out from going so I could spend more time with my boyfriend and friends. My mom never made me participate and my dad was in and out of prison at the time so I didn’t see him as an authority figure.

Some things that happened to me along the way made me realize my friends weren’t always going to be there for me so it was selfish and ridiculous of me to have that mentality. Whenever anything traumatic happened to me my family was always the most supportive. Now as a 25 year old I put my family first for everything. I constantly look forward to spending time with them and creating awesome memories. I regret not always feeling this way because it made me miss out on way too much. Out of all the friends I put before them I think only 2 remain in my life because the others gradually proved to me I didn’t matter. I love the relationship I currently hold with my parents and siblings. I will never make them 2^nd in my life again.