What was your role in your family growing up?

I was the oldest of four. Being the oldest meant being responsible for the others, knowing where they were and who they were with. Not knowing was not an option. It was quite a burden. First chance I got, I put a minimum of 1,000 miles between me and the rest of the family. Even that proved to not be far enough so I moved again. Now there are 2,000 miles between us. I will let you know if I have to move further away again.

I was the middle child, oldest girl, but considering that there were only 3 of us... I was also very shy, actually am still shy, just not as much. I was kind of my mother's helper, I still am. I am now tiring of the role, but mom needs me more than ever and I figure that she took care of us as babies and children, I can be here for her now. I can hope that mom will be with us for another 20 years, but I doubt that greatly, I will just try to be a dutiful, patient child for as long as I do have her.

I was the youngest in my family, but somehow I always seemed to be the most stable. That got tiring after a while. Even though I'm the youges, I'm the one who knows how to handle things. What drives me nuts is that because of my physical calleges oe miute people are diminishing what I can do, the next minute they're looking at me during a crisis like "she's stable, let her do it!" I feel eally unappreiated at times because of this.

i had nothing like that. i was the youngest in the family.but now i have lots of responsicility. dad is ill. i have to take all responsibility. brother stays in different city. its me who takes all responsibility of parents

I know how you feel Raydene, because my family has always looked at me for answers - and I am the second youngest child! Perhaps it's because I am the only one who went to University out of all my siblings and they seem to think I have the answer to everything!

Hi raydene! I'm the eldest of three, and i was always the go to one in our family. Whenever my siblings had a problem i was the one expected to solve it. Like you, i was the bodyguard, nurse,teacher,comforter, and the scapegoat on more than one occassion. And now that we're older nothing seems to have changed,i must admit as much as i love them, it does get tiresome. {{{HUGS}}}