Family Secrets

My family secret is on my father’s side of the family, involving his younger brother. He has a large family of six siblings, being the oldest of four boys and three girls. In such a large family, secrets are inevitable and can often be hid for years. Once I grew older and began to understand more things, I started to see problems happening with my uncle. He was in an accident and suffered more severe injuries than the doctors originally had thought, and had problems because of it. Along with being diagnosed with diabetes, he was prescribed pain medication that he began to take advantage of. After losing his job and family, he became involved in much heavier drug use. This was the family secret hidden for so long. For years I had no idea that my uncle was a drug addict and often lived on the streets. My father began to warn us not to open the door if he came to our house, and I often overheard him talking to other family members about lending my uncle money. I became afraid of my uncle and afraid of my dad’s new relationship with him. He wanted nothing to do with him for a very long time and he was subsequently “removed” from the family. This is something that has not changed, despite other family members attempts to help him. He has taken advantage of my grandmother, aunts, uncle, and especially my father for money and shelter, but no real progress has been made.

In The Beginning Were the Words

Short Writing Assignment:

Here are ten words: shilly-shally, ring, door, bolt, nest, Connect these words in a story that begins: Every woman thinks she can change the man she marries. Remember that ever noun can be verbed.

Every woman thinks she can change the man she marries, but will ultimate realize this is not true. She thinks they will me able to overlook their differences and play the melody of love for the rest of their lives, but she is proven wrong. His charm and charisma helps her to overlook his flaws but they will always be there. The way his jaw looks when he screams at her is no longer masked by his smile that she sees so seldom. Soon, his capricious lifestyle will strongly contrast with her controlling nature. Thinking you can change someone is a recipe for disaster. She will constantly shilly-shally on the way she thinks he can be instead of seeing the person he truly is. The way he screams at her when the phone rings, or when somebody is at the door, that will be hard to overlook forever. A marriage should be your nest to come home to, and your comfort zone. For her, this does not exist because she is so focused on change; when she realizes this change will not come, unfortunately she will bolt.