The Importance of Family

My grandmother, Anne Hatem, has always been the glue that kept our family together. I have always known her as an endearing grandmother: she would serve whatever food I desired, wash my clothes, and on one occasion even played videogames with me. Photos and stories recall a wonderful, but different person. Strikingly beautiful, she was the cool-under-pressure nurse and the no-nonsense mother of six children. Her record stands for itself; her children have gone on to become writers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, and accountants. All have acquired her generosity of spirit and her sense of humor. But even as these successful people went their different ways, her charm and heart have ensured that our family’s ties were not unbound.

In Honduras, families are especially close. They often live in complexes with other family members. For instance, my permanent home is in an apartment above a house where one family lives. Other members of the family live in a house to the left of ours; you enter through the same gate. At my homestay, the situation was the same. Two brothers lived in the same complex as each other; their sons grew up together and are best friends, and their wives exchange cooking materials, parenting tricks, and gossip.  Uncles and nephews may share a father-son like bond; if their age difference is small they may simply be close pals. There are often stories of one member of the family heading to the U.S., but in general families are incredibly close here.

Why is this? If I were to put on my amateur social scientist hat I would theorize that it has to do with the country’s limited economic resources. Everyone falls on tough times; people know that they are not immune to distress or hunger so they want to have a safety blanket if the worst should happen. There is no government safety net here: social security and public health insurance offer minimal to nonexistent protection. People must rely on their families, for housing and food, as well as comfort and guidance.

My family, compared to most Honduran ones, has been incredibly blessed. Our closeness, I think is remarkable considering the different lives that my mother and her siblings have led. Much of the credit for this, as I stated in the first paragraph must go to my grandmother. She was the planet around which we orbited.

Sadly, she died this Friday, August 10^th.  Her funeral is tomorrow. To my regret, I will not be able to attend. But from Honduras, I wish her a fond farewell and a pleasant trip to the other side.

Rest in peace, Grandma. You will be sorely missed.