The Importance of Family

I feel that family is very important for many reasons. Your family loves you, cares for you, and is always there for you. The function of family is simple, to create a safe place where you are comfortable and loved. In the essay Stone Soup, Barbara Kingsolver mainly talked about the judgment of abnormal families but she also states that family is an important thing and that it shapes a child’s personality.  Also in the story A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, There are obvious examples of family functions and importances. In my opinion, Betty Smith wrote the story with a main theme of family importance.

           The function of family as I stated before is to create a safe place where you are comfortable and loved.  At home I feel more comfortable than any place I have ever been. It’s the safest place I know, and I definitely have never been loved more than I have when I am at home with my family. Your family teaches you more important things than any teacher at any school could teach you. Your family teaches you how to be street smart while teachers teach you how to be school smart. Your family teaches you manners, how to love, how to take care of yourself, how to be whatever you want to be, and a million more things. Your family is always right there to give you advice and to help you whenever you need it. Family is so important to me because I have a huge family. It may not be abnormal or mixed but after moving here the holidays have been very lonely even though there are ten people in my house. I’m used to having my eight cousins, my five aunts, my five uncles, my two grandparents, my five brothers, sister, half-sister, and two parents. I play my worst in my sports when my family isn’t there. Some kids think their parents telling them to keep their heads up and telling what they did wrong on the court or field is annoying but I love it. Even if it doesn’t seem like it at the moment.  In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Smith writes, “Francie and Neeley got out of bed and they all sat around the table and ate after Papa had put three dollars down on the table and given the children each a nickel which Mama made them put in the tin-can bank explaining they had already received money that day from the junk…So Johnny and Katie talked away the night and the rise and fall of their voices was a safe and soothing sound in the dark” (Smith, 52-55).This quotes shows the safety that both Francie and Neeley feel. The sound of their parents voices calms them in the tough time they are going through and that is what family is for. The smallest actions can give the biggest sense of security. Another quote from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is when Smith writes, “She listened to everybody’s troubles but no one listened to hers. But that was right because Sissy was a giver and never a taker” (Smith, 101). This quote shows how family is always there, because sissy even though she isn’t there 24/7 she is always giving advice and helping not asking for anything in return. A family is unconditional love. An example from Stone Soup is when Kingsolver states, “The cheering section includes his mother and her friends, his brother, his father and stepmother, a stepbrother and stepsister, and a grandparent. Lucky is the child with this many relatives on hand to hail a proud accomplishment. I'm there too, witnessing a family fortune. But in spite of myself, defensive words take shape in my head. I am thinking: I dare anybody to call this a broken home” (Kingsolver, 1). This quote explains how people see families that aren’t “pure” and although my older sister is my half-sister, which I’ve actually never been able to call her that, she is my family because family is not always about having the same DNA it’s about loving each other un conditionally and not caring what they look like what they wear or what they like. Because family is supposed to protect the others from the badness of the world. Your parents protect you every day. The smallest actions that you might take for granted are love. “Put your seatbelt on,” or “Do your homework.” If they didn’t love you they wouldn’t care if you had your seatbelt on or not and if they didn’t care about your future, they wouldn’t care about the grades you get. Another example from Kingsolver’s Stone Soup is when she writes, “I imagine it must be a painful reckoning in adolescence (or later on) to realize true love will never look like the soft-focus fragrance ads because Prince Charming (surprise!) is a princess. Or vice versa. Or has skin the color your parents didn't want you messing with, except in the Crayola box” (Kingsolver, 2). This quote supports my statement that family is love. Just like the recent legalization of gay marriage. “Love is Love.” There are all types of families. They don’t have to be married, of opposite sex, of the same race. Because those things don’t matter to love. My Aunt and Uncle aren’t married. They are filed as domestic partners because she feels that you get married to have kids and she physically can’t have kids so she saw no need for vows, but I’ve always called him Uncle Joe because he is my uncle, my family even though he isn’t married to my mom’s sister because if he loves my aunt he is family and that is that.

                In conclusion, Love is Love and Family isn’t DNA. Family is when someone is always there no matter what even if you can’t see it or don’t notice it, family is love and it always will be. Think of someone adopted. They call their adoptive parent their mom, and dad. They don’t care that they don’t have the same genes as them, they love their kid(s) and that’s all that counts. I am blessed to have the family that I have and I will remember to always be thankful for that.

Sacredness of the Ordinary

 
      

   It's neon green, a 32 drop 10, very expensive and very important to me. I can just imagine the amazing feeling when I swing and the handle spins, and the pop of the bat when I make contact with the ball

The ball is coming in, I load up and throw my hands to the ball. As I am following through the handle spins and makes my swing quicker. I drop the bat as I am watching the ball fly deep into the outfield, dropping. I round first base touching only the inside corner of the bag. Picking up my third base coach, I see that he is motioning me to go to third. As I round second base, still looking at my coach, I see he is yelling down! down! I fold my right leg under my left and a cloud of dust engulfs around me and the third baseman. Through the cloud of dust I see the umpire signaling with his arms that I am safe. I put my right hand over my left making the letter T with my hands signaling a time out. The umpire calls time and I get up to fix the base. My teammates cheering from the dugout puts a huge smile on my face and this will be my memory of my first hit with my new bat. 

        It was the most expensive bat at the time because it was the newest model. I wanted it so bad, but with how many kids there are in my family, I would never have imagined actually getting one. When my dad handed it to me, I was speechless. I unwrapped it from its plastic wrapping and used it for the first time in a batting practice for my club team. 

            The reason it is so important to me is because when you live with eight kids, you don't get very many things that are just yours and nobody else's. This is one of those things. Another reason it is so important to me is because having a bat like that, that everyone knows is expensive makes you seem more professional. A parent wouldn't buy their kid a 500$ bat if they weren't good at softball. This bag serves as a reminder that my family is there for me and believes in me and my ability to play.  Not very many girls have this bat and it makes you look really cool, and as I have already said, more professional. 

But I didn't get the bat because I wanted to look cool, I got it because I am a good player and I can hit the ball to the outfield and the bat improves my swing. 

            It's neon green, a 32 drop 10, it may be just a softball bat to you, but to me it's a reminder that I have a future in softball, that I am a good player, and that I have a chance to play in college.