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Family

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”
 
Mother Teresa

“I sustain myself with the love of family.”
 
Maya Angelou
“This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It's knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work.”
 
Mitch Albom
“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened and maintained.”
 
Winston S. Churchill
Last night, my sister, Laura, began her journey back to America to start her Masters programme. It was a bitter-sweet day.We all took a day off work to just be with her and buy souvenirs together, eat together, have some good laughs and later, accompany her to the airport. There were no tears. Firstly because tears don't come easy in the Turyatemba house but really, because we were all simply proud of her (she is the first in the family to pursue a Masters) and happy to see her off as she heads in the direction of her dreams.
I love my family. They are the five people I am certain will always have my back and I, each of theirs. They drive me mad sometimes yet they make me laugh all the time. 
The world is a mess most of the time. The scenario of people disagreeing and choosing to annihilate each other as a result is more common than it ought to be. Peace is rare. In the first quote, Mother Theresa puts it simply; love your family and peace will reign at home and it will hopefully spread to the rest of the world.
And then, there is the matter of character. Winston Churchill put into words what I have always believed; am I honest, intelligent, always angry, fearful, cheery, pessimistic, hardworking, giving, forward looking...etc? Look to my family structure, my roots, the environment in which I grew up. I am persuaded that charity begins at home.
So, is your family, to you, a fortress or a burden/ a source of bad memories? However things are, you can make sure, when you get the opportunity to start your own family, that mistakes are avoided and good memories/ traditions are preserved. Dysfunctional families are 'created' by consistent acts or omissions. You can decide how things will be in your family.

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