Ganishka
You lay in a bright white room on a crisp white bed. You’re alone. In the background you hear a faint beeping noise. You are isolated; your thoughts, feeling and emotions engulf you until you feel suffocated. You think to yourself, the strength of a family is tested by the way it stands together in the most difficult of times. Suddenly you hear faint voices, which are slowly growing louder. Now they are all around you and you begin to recognize them. These are your loved ones. They have supported you through all your triumphs and now when your body had failed you ,they are here again.
Family, we hear this word multiple times a day, and it is ever present in multiple forms of media. There are even shows, such as Everybody Loves Raymond dedicated to showing the ups and downs of a modern family. Ray Romano, his wife Deborah, and their three children all live together, across the street from Ray’s parents. This causes many conflicts between the two families often resulting in the two families giving one another the infamous silent treatment that has become a staple in modern households today.
But how did families function say, 70 years ago? Did they also face the same frustrations as we do today? Anne Frank seemed to think so. On Wednesday, September 2nd, 1942, she recalls, “Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan have had a terrible fight. I’ve never seen anything like it, since Mother and Father wouldn’t dream of shouting at each other like that. The argument was based on something so trivial it didn’t seem worth wasting a single word on it” (Frank 33).Throughout her diary, Anne reflects upon the ways of her own family who were very calm throughout their hiding in the secret annex with the Van Daanswho were rather rambunctious with their behavior. However, fights just make a relationship stronger. My mother often says, ‘When a relationship has no arguments, someone is hiding something.’ It seems that the Van Daanswere simplytrying to sustain their relationship in the hard times they were facing as they held on to the idea that family is incredibly important.
Families are very supportive of one another. Through thick and thin they are always there for you. A backbone to support you when you need it most. Lady Macbeth is an excellent example of this necessary backbone. As she hears of the three witches prophecy’s, she thinks to herself, “Yet I do fear thy nature; it is too full of the milk o’ human kindness to catch the nearest way” (I.V.XVI-XVIII). She knows her husband will not be able to fulfill the three prophecies on his own and fears his failure for it will hurt her to see him not succeed. She ensures his success by saying, “But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll not fail” (I.VII.LX-LXI). By practicing tough love and physiological manipulation she encourages Macbeth to murder King Duncan. By doing this she guarantee’s his success and is incredibly supportive.
Much like Lady Macbeth, Jillian Michaels also practices tough love. Michaels is a trainer on the show The Biggest Loser and is known for her unique approach to weight loss. Just as Lady Macbeth knew her husband was capable of murdering King Duncan, Michaels knows her clients are capable of weight loss and she stands by them as through every struggle. Michaels pushes her clients to the extreme often pressuring them to do what they had never thought possible before just as Lady Macbeth does to Macbeth. Michaels can also be tender much the way a mother is. She knows in her heart that she is doing what she is out of love.
My own family consists of four people. My mother, father, sister and myself.We do not live near other family and for all holidays, it is just us. I like to think of us as the dandelion seed that the wind blew too far. When we moved to Canada two years ago from the United States it was a big change for all of us specifically emotionally. When we moved, we left our life long home and all of our friends and it was a difficult transition. I had spent my entire childhood around the same children and I knew that I would now have to make new friends. This was a challenge I had not experienced before and I grew anxious as the move grew closer. The one thing that kept us motivated was knowing that we had the support of one another when we came home. Although my family is small, we all communicate a great deal and this allows us to share our emotions.
The one thing that really makes a group of people a family is selflessness. Albert Dussel was a man who came to live with the Van Daan’s and Franks in the Annex in order to prevent his capture. Dusselmust not have had strong family relations because he was very selfish. On November 17th Anne stated: “…yesterday was November 16, the first anniversary of his [Mr. Dussel’s] living in the Annex [. . .] instead of taking the opportunity to thank us – for the first time – for unselfishly takinghim in, he didn’t utter a word” (Frank. 148). The Franks and Van Daans risked a great deal by hiding Dussel but in return he did not even thank them. This led me to believe that Dussel had a difficult family life unlike Anne and myself.
Your family has now left for the day and you smile to yourself as you think:the strength of a family is tested by the way it stands together in the most difficult of times. This is especially true for Anne, Macbeth and yourself. You have all faced challenges your families helped you overcome and you now realize something; the size of a family does not measure its strength but rather the number of birthdays you need to remember .
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