Essay About Family: Staying Afloat :: Personal Narrative essay about my family

Staying Afloat My family is having major issues. Mom is not getting beaten and we aren't starving to death, but I can definitely tell that things are escalating. I'm not even sure what the problem is. All four of us used to sit down to dinner, telling about the day's events and being friendly. I can't remember the last time that Dad and I went fishing or our family went on vacation. Now we are all so far apart that we don't know anything about one another. Our situation now is a stop at the fridge for the twice-reheated meal that used to be dinner. With Mom working a fourteen-hour day at Cypress Park Elementary, Dad's business speeding up and slowing down with no warning, and Jeff and I now in high school and participating in extracurricular activities after school, it's not surprising that we are falling apart. * * * It seems we have a solution to the decline in family togetherness. Mom, being a principal has always had a huge heart for her students. Apparently one in particular has caught her eye and shoved her into action. A little girl named Lindsey attending Mom's school is going to be coming to live with us. I don't know the whole story on her but apparently her mom died when she was real young and after bouncing in and out of several foster homes, as well as the courts with her dad she is in need of another family. I've met her before, visiting Mom at her hellhole of a school. Lindsey is in the after school program along with all of the other poor, filthy, and pathetic looking kids you wish you could take home. For me, its almost unbearable visiting Mom's school. I always feel guilty, like my life is too easy compared to what these kids deal with; alcohol, drugs, abuse, they've seen it all. She is pretty much the cutest kid I've ever seen, and I admit, the idea of being her big brother is r eally appealing, but I'm not really sure how adding another member to our strife is going to bring us closer. What I got from the master plan that Mom, and especially Dad, explained to me is that when Lindsey comes it is with hope that we will be able to give her the structure and support by providing her with positive role models and examples of "correct" behavior, that she needs in order to break out of all the bad influences and habits that she has had instilled in her from her environment.