#1 - Binding Us Together

My family is one that can make things really interesting. We constantly share stories with each other and it is these stories that make us unique and feeling like a strong family. In the New York Times article entitled Stories that Bind Us I see the close correlation between what makes a family strong and what tears them apart. Though my life journey may be short, it has been filled with seeing families around me fall apart because of a lack of communication within the family. As seen in the article with the dinner conversation and the anger that seemed to erupt, they eventually found themselves separated at which point the grandfather said that the family was falling apart. Satan desires us to be alone and when we are alone we are not as strong as we could be if we were united in a group. The need for stories is what holds us together. Memories are what we remember down the road and reminisce about in hopes of keeping our family ties strong.

It always amazes me at the desire of little children to know what their ancestors and relatives are like. It is sad in some instances when there is nothing for them to read or hear about because no one bothered to write it down. I feel that I, as well as everyone else, can relate to this situation. Even if it is not a recent ancestor, I still run into people in my family tree that I wish I knew something more about than just their name, birth date, and death date. This is why I feel that it is important for families to keep a journal to write down their memories so that family members down the line can connect better with them.

The article Stories that Bind Us has convinced me of the importance of writing down my thoughts and experiences. For this reason in the future I plan on being more aware of moments in my life that I could record for future generations. It is my hope that by doing this I will my family both now and in the future will continue to grow stronger.