What Does Family Mean to Me?
Family means always having someone to support you. It’s feeling like you’re part of a team, surrounded by people you can rely on through good times and bad. Sometimes, it’s dealing with relatives who are a little too involved in your life. It’s big dinners, loud parties, and gathering for every graduation, birthday, or any reason my big Persian family wants to celebrate. Family are the people who cheer you on and, because they know you so well, can also drive you crazy by pushing all the right buttons.
Family can be a brother who teases you but will stand up for you if anyone else tries to. It’s waking up in the morning barely hanging onto the edge of the bed, with little kids sprawled out and their tiny feet in your face, sleeping peacefully.
What Is My Family Structure Like?
Before moving to Alpharetta in 1996, I grew up in Vetlanda, a prestigious town in Sweden that felt like something from a Hansel and Gretel story. I lived there with my older brother, mom, and dad, and that’s where my earliest family memories come from.
Now, my immediate family includes my husband, son, and daughter. But since I come from a big Persian family, family also means having many aunts, uncles, and cousins. I also count my lifelong friends as family, the ones I chose along the way. And I can’t forget my first “babies,” Sam and Simon, my Labrador retrievers who have passed away.
My Favorite HAPPILY EVER AFTER DIVORCE ® Story
When I was in middle school and my brother was 17, he started dating a girl his age and they fell in love. She soon became the older sister I never had. When they turned 21, they got married. I was thrilled because it felt official; she really was my sister now. We were close and shared everything. At one point, I even lived with them.
They were married for 11 years and together for 16, but the last few years were difficult. They grew apart and hardly had anything in common. Their hopes and dreams no longer matched, so they decided to divorce. I was devastated. It felt like losing someone close, like I had lost the sister I grew up with.
I remember feeling angry and upset with both of them. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew something had to change. In those last years, they were both upset and anxious. Thankfully, the divorce didn’t drag on, and they both worked to focus on the future.
Now, my brother spends his time doing what he loves, like fishing and working on personal growth. He’s one of the calmest people I know and is in a supportive relationship with a wonderful woman who encourages him to enjoy life.
My ex-sister-in-law is now living her own “happily ever after” with a great man she married, and they have a beautiful baby boy together.