Family

Family

I spend a lot of time with my immediate family. I wouldn't say we're the closest family, but we're close. I'd like us to be closer. I'm referring to my parents mostly. Even with all the time we spend together, there are certain things we talk around and not ever really about.

I hope that by the time I'm 30 we will have the kinks worked out. I love my parents and I find them as much fun as anyone else I spend time with. I'd love for us to become emotionally closer while still maintaining our ability to just relax and have fun together.

So we move on to 2nd degree relatives. As far as my non-existent relationship with my brother, I'm honestly not interested in changing that in any way. I have a good number of grandparents. My father's father is still alive. I love him dearly, but I just don't see our relationship getting any closer because I really disappointed him by leaving medical school and by being the daughter of his son and not his daughter.

My mother does have a living mother, father, and ex-stepfather. Yes, that's a total of three grandfathers. I can work on my relationship with my grandmother. I would like that a lot.

For 3rd generation, I've got aunts and uncles that I love a lot, but that I don't have a very close relationship with. I can remedy that pretty easily. I've always felt that they genuinely like me as a person, so building a relationship shouldn't be too hard.

For 4th generation, I have a number of cousins I could be closer with, but I honestly don't know if I have any living siblings left of my grandparents. So I'll work on the cousins.

For 5th generation, I actually do have sibling left of my great-grandmother. I can definitely work on those relationships. And one of my cousins has a child. I can work to be a part of his life.

Looks like I have a lot of room for improvement. I know that relationships are a a two-way street. But I can certainly reach out more and do my part to bring my family closer.

Side note: I actually have a consanguinity chart saved on my hard drive. That's why I went by generations of family members, I didn't want to leave anyone out.