Mi+Familia

I never met my grandparents because they died before I was born. I always wondered what it would have been like to have grandparents and I felt very much cheated. Instead, my sister and I became very close with an aunt and uncle that had no children of their own. I remember telling them as a little girl that they were our honorary grandparents. When my children were born I was very anxious for them to develop the relationship with their grandparents that I had longed for. My parents also took care of my children when I returned to work. They developed a very strong bond that helped my son and daughter to experience the importance of family. I still remember my mother telling me and my only sister often when we were old enough to understand that when she and my father were gone, my sister and I were the only ones we would have to count on (aside from husbands of course) and that we should always be there for each other...or she would come back and haunt us! I'm now in the position where I find myself repeating the same thing to my children. They understand what I mean, as I understood my mother, because we've always tried to instill in them the same feelings about the importance of being close to your family. I feel like they've experienced and understand the importance of family when I walk into my daughter's dorm room and see the photo of two-year-old Susan Leigh dancing with Grandpa given the place of honor in the photo collage on her wall and when I read in Spike's senior yearbook for all to see that Grandpa is his greatest hero. The patriarch in "Mi Familia" said, "We've had a very good life." I think that what he meant was that this was so not because everything that happened to them was positive, but because the family stuck together through good and difficult times. They were able to face whatever was sent their way and make the best of their lives because their family members were with them sharing every step of the way. As I mentioned in class, I was struck by the seeming symbolism of the united "family portrait" on the couch when "William" brought his fiance and her parents to visit. Even though William seemed to abdicate in many ways to the "American-born couch" and there seemed to be some uncomfortable moments that could have been considered hurtful to William's family, they got through it in unity. Because the love they had for each other was a constant, it seemed the family could face anything.

There appears to be a great difference between the circumstances of the two students who wrote about their experiences in the United States. In Source 1, the boy seems to be very bitter. He seems to have stereotyped all Americans as self-centered and cold. He says the education system in the United States is the worst he's ever seen and that people care only for themselves and not others. He thinks he is mocked even more because he doesn't speak English. He says he would, if he had the money, return to his country with his family. Unlike the Mexican family in "Mi Familia," this boy seems not to draw strength from his family and his experiences seem to be only negative. In Source 2, the girl, Jeannie Park, is the opposite. She has had some positive experiences at least academically. She speaks English and is an achiever, yet she still feels the effects of stereotyping. It is interesting to read that she feels the victim of stereotyping when Asians are called "culinary" names, but she realizes that her Asian family and other Asians also dish out stereotypical behavior to others; Hispanics are specifically mentioned. Unlike the boy in Source 1 who just wants to flee, the girl in Source 2 recognizes the problem with stereotyping and rather than fleeing, is hopeful that this generation will be able to work towards appreciating their differences and benefitting from the contributions of others.