Thinking about dysfunctional vs. functional families this week really made me think about The Glass Castle.
I've read the book, and to be honest, I was shocked at how the author's parents allowed their children to be raised. Growing up, my family and I didn't always have the best of everything. We weren't poor, by any means, but things weren't necessarily easy either.
Thinking about dysfunction makes me think about the fact that I have two sisters. We are all 4-5 years apart in age, and couldn't be more different from each other as far as our personalities are concerned. We fought. We fought a lot growing up. Not physically, but mostly verbally and emotionally. Things were quite tense at times, and my mother never really knew what to do with us when the fighting would start.
After things would calm down, we would all joke that we put the "fun" in "dysfunctional". My sisters and I also termed our relationships with each other as "bipolar sisterly love". Meaning one minute we're fine, then things are volatile, and eventually things are fine again. We have our highs, and our lows - but no matter what, we love each other.
I think that was the one thing that struck me the most about the book. How much the author and her siblings never ceased to love their parents regardless of how they were treated. I hope to one day have an unconditional love like that with children of my own - but I know for a fact that we won't be living like the Wall's family did in that book!
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