Family

I am trying to understand what connects a family together. A family is a group of people connects by blood, we can choose friends but we cannot choose who our family is and we have no control over what happens in the family.  I was born in a family with four girls including myself and as sisters, we get a long most of the time but there are times where we want to strangle each other to death and get rid of each other--these fights are not only on the big problems but small bickering like who clean the kitchen and who drives can grow into a montrous argument that leads to other horrible paths.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my family. They have been my biggest support during nursing school and undergraduate years, without them I would not know what to do with myself.  My dad has not always been there for me, but he always makes sure I have food and shelter since we immigrated to the USA. He is quiet-- you know like the typical Asian dad-- and mellow but he can recollect funny stories that brings the gigglish side of me out. My mom is a blessing that I take for granted at times; she wakes up early and prepares lunch for me every single day for work and I would be nothing without her. She is the person who cleans the restroom in the middle of the night without complaining and holding grudges.  She is a big comfort if I come to her for any advice. My oldest sister Jenny is the most successful in the family. She has a house and a family of her own, she is graduating from a BSN program this year and I could not have been more proud of her.  On top of her work and school, she takes care two children and they turned out quite normal for their age. These two little brats gave me hope for the future, they have so much potential in them that it inspires me to be the best of myself so they can have role models.  My twin Elaine is timid and awkward but she made a great decision when she dated her current boyfriend of five years Thomas.  He is such a street smart and logical person, he knows the in-and-out of stuff that I am clueless most of the time. She seems clueless about a lot of things but deep down, she knows a lot. Come to her room and mountain of books are on the floor. These are not celebrity magazines and books and pictures; they are books on how to form a business, how to get smarter, how to serve the clients better, and family friendly magazines which have useful advice. 

I want to leave my youngest sister Kim for a paragraph of its own because she is special. She is definitely not a person who I want to be around all the time. She has put me in so much trouble for the past years and she puts herself in situation where I have to scratch my head.  At times I want to strangle her especially when she does things that increases my blood pressure.  I have to deal with difficult people at work all the time and it doesn't help me to feel any better to know I have to babysit and be around with another person just like some of my clients.  However, she has taught her so much about life. She showed me what's like to suffer and be in pain and how to empathize those who are.  She taught me how to find directions on the freeway. She showed me what's like to accept yourself and your body. She showed me the importance of a family. She taught me how to forgive and move on.  She taught me how to live life one day at a time and not to worry about the future.  Best of all, she taught me what it's like to love someone unconditionally.  She is the telescope that allows me to see life from a different view and without her, I would not be able to do it.

Britney Spears once said, “It’s weird like, you can see the cruelest part of the world. The cruelest part. But then on the other side you see the most beautiful part, do you know? And it’s like you go from one extreme to the next and they’re both worth it, because you wouldn’t see one without the other. But that cruel part, is damn cruel and you’ll never forget it. But that heaven…is heaven.”  The family is the heaven part of my world. I have seen the cruel part of the world for the past two years and the heaven...is heaven.  I would not be able to see the heaven without seeing the cruel part.