Family

Family is more to me than a cliche or political position. Family is about identity. Never, until I was a wife, then mother of 3, did I realize how much those affective relationships would change my sense of self. While I do not see myself, by any stretch of my imagination, as the quintessential mother, "mother" is who I am. What I do, what I say, what I plan has an effect on my husband, my daughters and now the husband and child of one of those daughters. As a wife and mother, I understand integration. We exist in synergy, in participation with one another. Despite what Simon and Garfunkle sang, I am not a rock nor an island. The poet was right, "No [wo]man is an island" but we are part of a whole, part of "the main". Western culture, once again, has not helped us in this regard and it is quite ironic that a "Family Values" agenda is identified with a capitalist political platform. My immediate family relationships are simply a part of the whole family of humanity. We are all created in the image of God, and therefore we all have instrinsic value; we are brothers and sisters. My children, and now my grandson have taught me that it is not all about me, but we.