Family - its Changes and Values - Essay Example

A person may embrace another person’s difference, while some might totally turn their backs from their families or their families might turn away from them because of dissimilarities. Discussion Individuals have their own identities. No two persons have exactly the same life or desires. Even twins do have their differences, which can result in arguments. Yet these differences should not prevent a family from being a unity. As Goodman put it into context, “We don’t have to achieve to be accepted by our families.

We just have to be. Our membership is not based on credentials on birth (4)”. Regardless of how much changes a person may have in a lifetime, he or she should be accepted by the family where he or she belongs. People or society may not agree as to what the person may become, yet the family should be there when a person needs them. Even the meanest person in this world is still loved by his or her family even if he or she resents them. According to Senna, “In death we are each reduced to our essence: the spirit we are when we are born.

The trappings we hold on to our whole lives – our race, our money, our sex, our age, and our politics – become irrelevant” (19). A person may have the most luxurious life in the physical world, yet he or she may be the poorest in spirit. Worldly possessions are immaterial to a person in his or her dying days. In the end, no person is spared from death. Though what the person has accomplished in life would often be just a memory forgotten in time, it is not valid as regards his or her family that has always loved this person unconditionally.

One may change for the worst, yet there are still people who give love and understanding to this individual even when he or she pretends not to need them. It is a sad reality that people often turn their back away from their families when they have achieved their goals, found happiness and contentment in other beliefs, or when greed and envy have eaten them up from inside. Despite these changes, a mother and a father will always have a space in their hearts for their children who had the courage to stand up on their own and live the lives that they want.

It is painful for parents when they see their children go astray. The pain that they feel is not brought about by disappoinment or hate. This feeling of pain is brought about by the affection and love that parents have for their children. No parent would want to see their children suffer or get hurt, and this is a valid statement not only as regards the parents-children relationship but also as regards grandparents-grandchildren or uncles/aunts-nephews/nieces relationships. However, as Senna states, “…the differences between us were real and alive, and they threatened to squelch our fragile connection” (16).

The first step in accepting one’s differences, especially in a family, is to acknowledge the difference and make amends. It may not be an easy thing to make amends with people with whom one has differences, especially when it comes to the delicate topics like religious and political beliefs. One may be discriminated by the society due to his or her differences. However, the most painful circumstances would be when a person is being alienated by his or her own family. This is not to blame the families for the shortcomings or the outrageous actions of an individual.

It is just an attempt to trace why such events occurred. A part of accepting the difference is to know where and how it started within