The essence of family

Having a family to call your own is a beautiful feeling. Many are privileged to be raised in a good family setting, to receive all the love and grow with it, while some struggle to belong somewhere and call someone their family. But either way, there is no perfect family anywhere. In this write-up, I will be taking my father's family as a case study.

source

While growing up, I learnt a lot from my father and saw how much family meant to him. He is the lastborn of the family, but he doesn't joke with his elder siblings; likewise, his brothers and sisters don't joke with anything that concerns him. Amidst their fights and misunderstandings, they still look out for one another, and that's one thing I emulated so much. They always have each other's backs.

Sometimes I get mad at my dad and ask him why he's always silent even when his siblings do what he doesn't like. "Family should always look out for one another and never sell out your family", this was always his response. I didn't understand him then because I felt his older ones were cheating him. After all, he's the lastborn. I always wish to fight for him and confront anyone who talks ill about him, but I couldn't because I don't have the right. The Yoruba tribe is so rich in culture, and respect is one of the strong pillars of the tribe.

My father and his siblings love one another, but when it's time to call a spade a spade, they're always serious about it. We lost my grandpa last year, in September, it was so sudden because we didn't see it coming, even though he was old. We didn't want him dead. Because it was unexpected, his burial had to be carefully planned because he was a notable person in my village during his lifetime. This caused his burial to be moved to January this year. When the preparation began, there were lots of misunderstandings about the attire to wear, food preparation, and lots more. Different people are bringing ideas and opinions, and choosing among all these ideas has become a problem. Each person wants others to follow his or her plan, and that has caused quite a lot of misunderstandings between them.

The misunderstanding was still there till we did the burial and even after. They were at loggerheads with one another, they failed to settle their differences and moved on but amidst this, they still look out for each other. Though it seems on the outside like they wouldn't talk to one another again. Today they have reconciled and moved on with their lives, which I believe is the essence of family. We fight to settle that's what makes family interesting.

Thanks for your time and your comments will be appreciated.

Posted Using INLEO