Appreciate family while you still can

by Lyndsey Wolf, staff writer

 

Families are forever.

Why do people think they aren’t important? I don’t understand how  people can go a lifetime without being with their family. Family is extremely important, and I think some people take advantage of their family. I am one of them. I used to miss the point about what family was all about.

I grew up with a wonderful, loving family. I never understood why it hurt them so much that I made my friends more of my family instead.

I recently have left my home, my parents and my brother to start a new life. I came to college and realized how much I regret not spending the time I could have with my family until it was too late.

No one can give you the kind of love and comfort that your family can give to you. The warmth of your mother’s and father’s arms, the sense of being wanted. I was blind to that until now.

It is very important to spend time with your family while you can. Many people don’t realize what they had or could have had until it’s too late. I will never live with them again. I will never get to wake my mom up when I have a nightmare and tell her to come sleep in my bed with me. I will never get to hangout with my dad on the back roads, sitting in his lap while he lets me steer the wheel.

I’m finished growing up in the same house with my little brother. Those times were the most wonderful in my life, and I never realized how special they were until I left.

I spent some time with a very special little boy last weekend, and being able to be around baby Gene really opened my eyes to how important it is to have a wonderful family I will treasure forever.

I still get to speak to my family every day, and I can definitely go home whenever I want. But it still isn’t the same. I’m an adult now, and it’s time to grow up. You are born into families, and you die with families.

There is no way of getting away from your family. You just have to decide if you are going to love and appreciate the special gift of a family, or be blind to what you have and live alone.

Family gives you encouragement, understanding, hope, comfort, advice, values, morals and the best of all we have been taught about our faith. I am so thankful that I came to my senses about how precious a family is. I wish the same for others.