Feature Story on Family

I'm sitting against the wall in my sister's kitchen, watching everybody. It's my niece's 11th birthday party. She's opening her gifts and thanking everyone. The room is filled with her immediate family. She's too old to have big birthday parties anymore. At least, that's what she thinks. Kids.. Everyone's talking, catching up on things. Jamie is having another brother or sister in 9 months. Hearing this makes me think about family and how important it is. So that's what I'll do my feature story on.

No matter what you've done or where you've been, you have your family. You mess things up, and they help put it back together. You fall apart, and they pick up the pieces. Family is always there for you. You may think your best friend is your family or your boyfriend or girlfriend who means so much is your world, but for me , it's always been my family. Because even if things with my best friend or boyfriend fell apart, my family remained.

It's a great gift God gives us. You know, it's like they say, you're stuck with your family so you better love them. It seems like a lot of times we treat our family the worst out of everyone we know. We know they'll be there, because they have to. So our harsh words or behavior is acceptable. But really, it's not. We gotta treat our family for what they really are - a gift. We have to appreciate them and be there for them like they are for us. We have to watch what we say, because hurtful words can't be taken back, just forgiven.

For me, my mom has always been the most important person in my life. And my sister, Leanne, has always been that person that really got to me. When she would tell me she understood my situation and that it would get better, I believed her the most. Anyone else could have said it, but coming from her, it would actually get through to me. And my mom hurts when I hurt. She's happy when I'm happy. That's true love for a person. That's family.

I think about how important my family is to me. And I wish that everyone stopped for a second sometimes, just to think of what their family means to them. I still say hurtful words or forget to thank the people that do the most for me. It seems like we teenagers do this the most. But lately, I've just realized that it's not okay to do that. It's never okay to hurt the people who love you unconditionally. Because the most important thing in our life, is our family.