Familycommunicationcollage

Family Communication

CollagePeggy Levy

April 6, 2012

What is a family?

What is a family cont.

My “family” is not my biological family, and in fact I have absolutely no blood relation to anyone except for my sister. But I do consider the people who surround me to be my family because they have been the people who have always been there for me. I love my family more than anything in the world.

This woman is my mothers best friend Michelle. I have known her since before I was even born. She is not related to me or my sister in any way, but I always refer to her as my second mother. Because for all of my life that is what she has been.

My “crazy” Family!

My “crazy” family cont.

Family Type

My father passed away when I was 4-years-old, so my mother was a single mother for most of my life.

“relationships are familial to the extent that relational partners feel and act like family” (Galvin, Byland and Brommel, 2008, p. 4).

My step father and sister have no blood relationship to me, but I do consider them my family.

Communication within the Family

Communication in my family is so important. My family members live all over the state of Maine. Because we are all so busy it’s hard for us to see each other as much as we would like.

I would categorize my family as a enmeshed family (Galvin, Byland and Brommel, 2008 p. 31)

My grandmother always used to say “communication is key” when dealing with your family members. She is the reason we are who we are today.

Family Rituals

Family rituals are very importantin my family. When I was youngermy grandmother used to have allthe holiday dinners at her house. Since passing, my mother has taken on that tradition.

Family Rituals Cont.

“Rituals serve as a way to bond family members of all ages across generations, providing a sense of family identity and connection” (Galvin, Byland and Brommel, 2008 p. 116)

My mother, sister and I always travel to Florida once a year. We’ve done this for the last 20 years. It’s a way for us to bond with each other and spend some good quality time with one another. Honestly, I look forward to it all year!

Family Roles“Little Peggy” (me)I provide comedy relief for my family. I am always joking around and always smiling.

Courtney (sister) My sister is much more serious than I am. She is always stressed and worrying about something. I call her Courty-Worry-Worty. She doesn’t care for it much

Joe (step-father) After my father died I was basically forced to grow up and raise my sister. My step-dad filled that empty slot when he married my mother. He is such a wonderful person and I do love him very much. He is such a strong father figure to me now.

Hannah (step-sister)She provided me with a big sister figure. She is everything I am to my sister, but to me. I couldn’t ask for a better big sister.

“Big Peggy” (mother) In my house my mother is the boss, she’s the head honcho. It’s her way or the highway. I love my mother very much. I wouldn’t trade her for the world!

Family Roles Cont.Although my step-father is a strong father figure in my life…nothing can replace my real father. I love my father very much and will never stop. When I was little he passed away suddenly of a heart attack. My mom and I were absolutely devastated. We really weren’t sure what was going to happen without him.

I was basically forced to step up and help raise my 2-year-old sister. Although this family tragedy hurt my family, it also made us stronger. We had to stick together and we did. My mother, sister and I have an amazingly strong bond and always will have that.

“I’ll love you forever” is something we say to each other now because my father used to say it to us. It’s also my tattoo.

Conflict within the FamilyMy family is no exception to the fact that we fight sometimes. I think that conflict in the family or in any situation is only natural and sometimes it just has to happen. When one family member in my family is fighting, everyone knows it, and everyone is affected by it. “Because of family member’s interdependent , a conflict between two members of the family will affect other members” (Galvin, Byland and Brommel, 2008 p. 219

This is Thanksgiving a few years ago, I was very mad at Courtney.

Conclusion

Throughout this semester and taking this class I have learned a lot about not only myself, but about how my family works and functions. I love my family very much, and although we may occasionally bump heads, at the end of the day they are my best friends.