Family Life Essay
The Following is a copy of my Family Life essay for my English 151 class. Should anything happen to it, I'm posting here. So if you want to read it, go right on ahead. You might learn a few things about me.
One of the most important lessons that family life will teach you is your prerogative towards your family. In other words, your necessary obedience to your family; what you owe them. This phenomenon comes from conditioned love that is passed down from generation to generation of family members. The generations that came before you were good enough to love you and take care of you and even give you life and nourishment as you grew. Because of this, it is the proper duty of any family member to make family care a number one priority.
Over the summer, my grandparents from my mother’s side of the family came down to visit. We discovered then that my grandfather was having certain trouble walking. He told us it was sciatica, a condition in which a pinched nerve sends shooting pains down one’s appendage. In his case, that appendage was his leg. We later discovered after they left that he had no ordinary condition of sciatica. An X-ray scan revealed that he had a tumor in his back that was pressing against his nerve. After a closer examination, it looked like there were 3 possible options. 1. They leave the tumor in there and he suffers with it for the rest of his life. 2. They cut out the tumor along with the chunk of the hip that it’s attached to. 3. They cut out the tumor, the hip and his whole leg. There was no good option.
Because the doctors in the New Orleans area where my grandfather lived didn’t want to deal with the tumor, my grandfather flew to Texas where a branch of the hospital was willing to take a look at his hip. They opened up his back to get a better look at the tumor. It didn’t look good. It looked like the latter two of the options would most likely have to happen. Now, we’d already anticipated this so we knew what was going to have to happen if he was going to have all that removed: I would have to go down there and take care of him and my grandmother until he could get back on his feet and take care of himself again. They wanted me to do it because I was the only one in the family with experience in taking care of the invalid and he seemed to like me the best. There were my cousins who lived in New Orleans nearby him who could take care of him, but he didn’t have much faith in them and knew that I was more likely to make something of myself. Of course, if I had to go down there and take care of him, I would have to clear out and quit all my classes at College of Marin. It would put me back another semester, but I was ready to do it.
The morning after his back opening, I was on my way into San Francisco with my boss on a bus. I called him up at his hotel in Texas and talked with him. He was in surprisingly good spirits, especially considering that he was probably about to lose his hip. I told him that I was ready to take care of him if I had to. He also offered me a few thousand dollars for my education if I came down and took care of him. I told him that he didn’t have to because I was already prepared to take care of him no matter what. That’s what I owed him. That’s what I owed him for his support going through life. He helped take care of me when I was little and I was prepared to take care of him in his old age.
But there was an unexpected twist in this series of events. One that proved there was a happy ending after all. After getting a better look at the tumor, another doctor said that he could fix the problem without sawing anything off. Instead, he would just chip a chunk off of the tumor so that it wouldn’t rub up against his nerves. And that is exactly what wound up happening. My grandfather is fine again, he doesn’t have to lose a leg or a hip, I don’t have to go down there and take care of him, and he’s been walking fine ever since the surgery. Matter of fact, he could walk the day after the surgery. But despite the fact that he’s alright now fine, I would have helped him if I had to. It would be my duty to my family.
Such things as my grandfather’s problem have been common lately in my family. My other grandfather had a small heart attack only two weeks ago. As a result, he could not walk for a while. A week ago, my dad went to visit him and my grandfather. It turns out that my dad wound up doing everything I would have had to do if I had to go take care of my grandfather. Only this was for a week. My dad’s dad had trouble getting up the first few days my dad was over there. He had some trouble walking too. But now, he’s already better and he’ll continue to get better as the weeks go on. My dad did his part for his dad. I will have to do my part for someone too someday. I’ll have to wait and see though.
I read a short story once that best sums up the mystery of one’s prerogative towards family. It was called “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff. In this story, we have two brothers, Pete and Donald. Pete is older and wiser and has done quite well settling down with a family of his own. Donald is practically a drifter who has no home and eventually winds up having to rely on Pete for many things. When the story begins, Donald tells Pete that he’s quitting his job and Pete offers to take him in. As the story continues, the brothers talk with each other in the car on the way over to Pete’s house. Along the way, they pick up a stranger who tells them that he wants to open up a gold mine. When Pete goes to sleep, Donald invests a hundred dollars that Pete gave him earlier in this gold mine and drops the man off at a location earlier than the one he’d specified before. As it appears, Donald has been robbed of all he has and doesn’t even know it.
When Pete awakes to this news, he is furious that Donald fell for such a dirty trick. So furious in fact that Donald decides to call it quits. He doesn’t want to be a burden on Pete anymore and decides to get out of the car at the side of the road. As Pete drives off, he thinks about what he’s doing. He thinks about the consequences of his actions and as he does, he slows down his car and, as the text implies, turns around to go get Donald again.
Strangely, after reading this story, I thought that if Pete continued on, that would have been the best thing for him to do. It would help Donald become stronger, it would make Pete stronger; it would have helped them both in a way. But Pete had to look after his brother. As a member of the family he owed it to him. He owes it to him just as I owe it to my grandfather and my dad owes it to his dad. That is the prerogative one has towards their family: to make sure that no one gets left behind.
Bibliography
Tobias Wolff, “The Rich Brother,” Making Literature Matter, Schilb and Clifford.
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003, p. 391-403
One of the most important lessons that family life will teach you is your prerogative towards your family. In other words, your necessary obedience to your family; what you owe them. This phenomenon comes from conditioned love that is passed down from generation to generation of family members. The generations that came before you were good enough to love you and take care of you and even give you life and nourishment as you grew. Because of this, it is the proper duty of any family member to make family care a number one priority.
Over the summer, my grandparents from my mother’s side of the family came down to visit. We discovered then that my grandfather was having certain trouble walking. He told us it was sciatica, a condition in which a pinched nerve sends shooting pains down one’s appendage. In his case, that appendage was his leg. We later discovered after they left that he had no ordinary condition of sciatica. An X-ray scan revealed that he had a tumor in his back that was pressing against his nerve. After a closer examination, it looked like there were 3 possible options. 1. They leave the tumor in there and he suffers with it for the rest of his life. 2. They cut out the tumor along with the chunk of the hip that it’s attached to. 3. They cut out the tumor, the hip and his whole leg. There was no good option.
Because the doctors in the New Orleans area where my grandfather lived didn’t want to deal with the tumor, my grandfather flew to Texas where a branch of the hospital was willing to take a look at his hip. They opened up his back to get a better look at the tumor. It didn’t look good. It looked like the latter two of the options would most likely have to happen. Now, we’d already anticipated this so we knew what was going to have to happen if he was going to have all that removed: I would have to go down there and take care of him and my grandmother until he could get back on his feet and take care of himself again. They wanted me to do it because I was the only one in the family with experience in taking care of the invalid and he seemed to like me the best. There were my cousins who lived in New Orleans nearby him who could take care of him, but he didn’t have much faith in them and knew that I was more likely to make something of myself. Of course, if I had to go down there and take care of him, I would have to clear out and quit all my classes at College of Marin. It would put me back another semester, but I was ready to do it.
The morning after his back opening, I was on my way into San Francisco with my boss on a bus. I called him up at his hotel in Texas and talked with him. He was in surprisingly good spirits, especially considering that he was probably about to lose his hip. I told him that I was ready to take care of him if I had to. He also offered me a few thousand dollars for my education if I came down and took care of him. I told him that he didn’t have to because I was already prepared to take care of him no matter what. That’s what I owed him. That’s what I owed him for his support going through life. He helped take care of me when I was little and I was prepared to take care of him in his old age.
But there was an unexpected twist in this series of events. One that proved there was a happy ending after all. After getting a better look at the tumor, another doctor said that he could fix the problem without sawing anything off. Instead, he would just chip a chunk off of the tumor so that it wouldn’t rub up against his nerves. And that is exactly what wound up happening. My grandfather is fine again, he doesn’t have to lose a leg or a hip, I don’t have to go down there and take care of him, and he’s been walking fine ever since the surgery. Matter of fact, he could walk the day after the surgery. But despite the fact that he’s alright now fine, I would have helped him if I had to. It would be my duty to my family.
Such things as my grandfather’s problem have been common lately in my family. My other grandfather had a small heart attack only two weeks ago. As a result, he could not walk for a while. A week ago, my dad went to visit him and my grandfather. It turns out that my dad wound up doing everything I would have had to do if I had to go take care of my grandfather. Only this was for a week. My dad’s dad had trouble getting up the first few days my dad was over there. He had some trouble walking too. But now, he’s already better and he’ll continue to get better as the weeks go on. My dad did his part for his dad. I will have to do my part for someone too someday. I’ll have to wait and see though.
I read a short story once that best sums up the mystery of one’s prerogative towards family. It was called “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff. In this story, we have two brothers, Pete and Donald. Pete is older and wiser and has done quite well settling down with a family of his own. Donald is practically a drifter who has no home and eventually winds up having to rely on Pete for many things. When the story begins, Donald tells Pete that he’s quitting his job and Pete offers to take him in. As the story continues, the brothers talk with each other in the car on the way over to Pete’s house. Along the way, they pick up a stranger who tells them that he wants to open up a gold mine. When Pete goes to sleep, Donald invests a hundred dollars that Pete gave him earlier in this gold mine and drops the man off at a location earlier than the one he’d specified before. As it appears, Donald has been robbed of all he has and doesn’t even know it.
When Pete awakes to this news, he is furious that Donald fell for such a dirty trick. So furious in fact that Donald decides to call it quits. He doesn’t want to be a burden on Pete anymore and decides to get out of the car at the side of the road. As Pete drives off, he thinks about what he’s doing. He thinks about the consequences of his actions and as he does, he slows down his car and, as the text implies, turns around to go get Donald again.
Strangely, after reading this story, I thought that if Pete continued on, that would have been the best thing for him to do. It would help Donald become stronger, it would make Pete stronger; it would have helped them both in a way. But Pete had to look after his brother. As a member of the family he owed it to him. He owes it to him just as I owe it to my grandfather and my dad owes it to his dad. That is the prerogative one has towards their family: to make sure that no one gets left behind.
Bibliography
Tobias Wolff, “The Rich Brother,” Making Literature Matter, Schilb and Clifford.
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003, p. 391-403
posted by Jaimetud at 4:41 PM
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