Family, they say, is the first agent of socialization. It is one of the intricate units that make up the society as a whole.
A human’s first interaction after being born happens within his family. There, he is taught a lot of things as he grows, he is groomed and brought up in whatever manner that is peculiar to his immediate family. The values, morals and ideologies of that family are instilled in him and that is what builds the foundation for adulthood where he will be free to roam the world, meet new people and explore.
Before everything else, family comes first.
Even after everything else, family is still going to be there because as they say, there is no place like home. There is indeed nowhere like the home you were raised in and home is not a building, it is made up of the people who occupy a building.
Family is so important to me because I know that I have the best family members in the world and I am grateful that I belong to such a wonderful family.
“Don't forget where you came from.."
This advice was given to me by my mother before I left for school in my freshman year. At first I thought that was her own unique way of telling me to choose my circle wisely and not befriend bad company so as to avoid negative repercussions on my education and my life. I thought that she was only just advising me to be a good adult and to remember all that I had been taught while growing up.
Well, the advice had another side to it which I recently realized.
In the course of going to school and maturing at the same time, I came across different people with different ideologies and different family backgrounds. It occurred to me that some did not come from backgrounds where love and care thrived the most which made them have a different outlook to life and family in general, there were some who outrightly hated their family or family members and didn't think twice about letting everyone they come in contact with know it like it's a flex or something.
It is always a shock for me when I realize that many youth do not desire to put their family first especially when things are going great. I'll hear stories about how a young individual is actually doing very well financially but back home in the place he grew up, his family lives in a poor state constantly trying to make ends meet.
Though I know that a lot of things can drive a family apart and everyone has a limit of the things that they can forgive, but for me, the code I live by is to stand by my family.
For me, family comes first. The first and obvious reason being that they were there first and have been there especially during the bad days and we have had our share of bad days which have only helped us to grow in love together and strengthened the strong bond that we all share today.
If I have a problem, I don't run to friends or elders outside because I don't even socialize at all for starters, I run to my family first. I feel comfortable telling them about what's bothering me knowing that I will get some solution to whatever that's bothering me.
If I need something, I reach out to my family and the same gesture is reciprocated whenever any of my family members need anything in particular.
I have learned what it's like to cooperate and share and to respect people's choices and I learned all these at home.
Though when I mention “my family", I mean my immediate family, and not my extended family. Fate has it that the relationship with members of our extended family is almost non-existent. Almost.
While navigating through life, it can sometimes be very easy to break away in a bid to explore and expand alone but I would rather explore and progress with my family no matter what happens.
In everything I do, no matter where I go, the code I live by is to never ever forget where I came from. The family I was blessed with, the family that I grew up with. I will always put my family first because if not my family, then who?
