April 2005

Family. They are supposed to be the closest people to you. You always love them. But do you always like them? Your parents, brothers and sisters, are supposed to know you better than anyone else. But do they? We can count on family always being there for us. But are they?

Some of us are lucky enough to have family that we get along with and we are friends with and that we like. But that does not always happen. Sometime, our interests are just too divergent. Maybe the family is into sports and the child is into music. Perhaps they can never find common ground. It doesn’t mean that they do not love each other, but perhaps there is no common language. And perhaps there is not sufficient skill to build that bridge.

Perhaps, for a variety of reasons, the parents’ values are different than the child’s. If there is not enough respect, this can tear the family apart. If the siblings do not agree, and do not know how to disagree respectfully, this may end the siblings’ relationship.

The bottom line for all of these situations is respect. We can disagree. We do not need to have the same values. But we do need to say, “I may not agree with you, but I do love you. I agree to disagree. So, let’s talk about something else.

Our families may not be our best friends, but if we can build bridges of communication, we can always be there for each other!