Family

Family

Welcome to Amy's Page

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered. "Yes Piglet?" "Nothing" said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

Where would we be without our family?

I wouldn't be here without their support and love. This page is dedicated to the people who made me who I am.

I have been struggling with my ideas of a typical family. I know, what in the world is a typical family? Well, that's my issue. I have these ideas of what a family should be like and how they should act. These ideas are not borne of my experiences, but rather my dreams and wishes. It's hard to give up ideas of an ideal family. I'm working on accepting my family for who they are and loving them unconditionally, as I want them to love me.

Three generations - My grandma Niona on the left, me and my mother on the right. We all live within 45 minutes of each other. You'd think we could spend more time together, wouldn't you? I lived with my mom and grandmother my senior year in high school and to have 3 versions of the same lady in the same house at different ages is quite an experience!

This picture was taken at Dan and Sally's house, just clowning around with Caden and my mom, "Nana Carole"

This is me as a little girl. My grandma Ella Rose is holding me, my great-grandma Marianne is sitting next to us. They were such strong women, I wish I could have known them longer. My great-grandma passed on when she was 92. My grandma had lung cancer which spread and was much younger when God came for her. I'm glad I knew them for the short time I did.

We had a rocky start, my dad and I. I only lived in the same state as he did for the first 8 years of my life. This picture is of him, my aunt Sandra, my uncle, David, and my cousin Teresa. They all live in California and I don't get to see them very often. My aunt Sandy is trying to help me piece together what she remembers about growing up with her parents, Ella Rose and Mel, and telling me more about her grandparents, Marianne and Domingo Santos. My father thinks I'm just obsessed. Hmph. :-)

I always pictured having big family dinners. For this one moment in time, my dream came true. I hope this happens more often, it is so great to get the family together for an afternoon. My great-aunt Marge heads the table, followed by Dan, Sally, Caden, me and my mom. The folks you can barely see are Richard, Lela (my mom's in-laws), Chandi (my cousin) and my aunt Donna.

I think I blame television for giving me such a sugar-coated distorted view of what an "ideal" family should be like. I don't think I'm the only one, either. Take a look at tv in the 1950s with "Father Knows Best" and "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Leave it to Beaver". Those shows portrayed families that weren't real. Even in the 50's, families weren't like that. Of course, I didn't know that, I didn't grow up in the 50's. But I did grow up watching television, and had my own skewed shows about perfect families. "The Cosby Show", "Family Ties", "Silver Spoons", "Growing Pains", "Diff'rent Strokes", "Mr. Belvedere" and "Who's the Boss?" all had some semblance of what families could be like. They weren't perfect, but they were functional. Not like MY family. And, to my surprise, not like any of my friends' families, either. But those shows planted a seed of what family COULD be like. And those expectations are too high for anyone with my blood to achieve. We can't solve our problems in a half hour (20 minutes with commercials) no matter how much I wish we could. And there's no theme music to exaggerate the mood. And it's hard to look someone in the face when you're telling them how disappointed you are with their decisions, or how much you love them but are not willing to be their doormat.