Family or friends
By ElsaElsa
@ElsaElsa (323)
United States
October 27, 2009 12:07pm CST
Are relationships harder to maintain with family members than friends? I find that as more members are getting added to our family through marriage or birth etc. relationships are harder to maintain due to various factors such as personality differences, difference in opinions or simple lifestyle. With friends, you choose who you want to be friends with and somehow work out differences to build a stronger friendship. I'm just amazed that with family its not that straightforward even though they are family.
2 responses
@jodylee_04530 (1097)
• United States
27 Oct 09
I think it is harder to maintain relationships with my family because of the distance between us all. I keep in touch with them but am always surprised at how much I do not know about them. I find with my friends we are all very close and see each other almost daily so we are able to build stronger bonds. I think of my best friends or my inner circle as my family in many ways. I love my family dearly but find it difficult to keep daily contact and know of all their ongoings.
@ElsaElsa (323)
• United States
27 Oct 09
That's true. These days family is scattered and friends are only a touch away. Could that mean that family ties are starting to become less important to us now that we are not all living under one roof? The love that we have for our family would that then be just because they are family we love them otherwise we don't really know that well anymore? Distances are what truly affect relationships. Maybe more negatively with family than friends.
@jodylee_04530 (1097)
• United States
28 Oct 09
I do think that families are loosing their importance in many ways. When I was a child I lived in a small town where my extended family were all very close. We visited every weekend and sometimes during the week. We saw each other at the grocery store, we were in school with our cousins. We were very close. Holidays were huge gatherings. Now, we have all moved away from the town. Well, not all of us, but many. We are lucky if we visit at Christmas these days. With so much travel involved it is just not as easy when you have a family of your own. I now see just immediate family around the holidays but mostly we spend time with our friends. We have a huge seafood dinner on Christmas Eve with all our friends. It is wonderful. We eat all night and then have lobsters and clams at Midnight. A wonderful tradition for sure!
@ElsaElsa (323)
• United States
28 Oct 09
Do you miss those days when you hung out with cousins. I do. I used to feel so close and bonded and thought I'd never need friends with them around. But times changed and relationships changed. I kind of feel sad thinking that family is less important now and friends are cherished more. But its the same case with me. Family is scattered and some family members are best to stay away from anyway.
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
28 Oct 09
I agree with what you are saying. However, relationships only work with communication.
