Family

Family. One of the words we learnt to use and say when we are very little. What does the word family really hold in meaning? People that has blood relations with us and people who have similar genes as us. People who live in the same house as us and has been with us ever since day one of our lives. Is that it? Is that all this word holds??

Yesterday during dinner, all of us were actually in a good mood and we're having fun eating steamboat in Times Square. All our topics were just the usual until Uncle Alex commented on my brother(elder) not driving and saying that he left his license to rot in the corner. That started some debate and my dad joined in. It was turned out to be a fierce confrontation between my brother and my dad. My brother and my dad have the exact characteristics... It was as the Chinese saying 'a mixture of oil and water'. It loosely translates to two people not being able to click together.

My dad and my brother since long ago had never been able to be on agreeable terms for a lot topics. Both of them can never loose to the other when it comes to a open confrontation and it was of course something hard to bear for all of us who were there. My mom and I joined in to make peace but it only got worse and end up my brother started crying and Ivan being the youngest couldn't handle all of us. He cried and sobbed silently while patting my elder borther's back. The room was so tense and it was hard to bear. Both of them became very unreasonable and acted so childishly. In the end my dad just stalked out of the room.

My brother can be very defensive and that is what makes my dad so angry at times, my dad on the other hand is unreasonable at times and he hates to loose. I was defending my brother at first because my dad started making unreasonable statements and did not try to understand from my brother's stand point. Then after a while my brother started to speak unreasonably as well which was making everyone uneasy. It was pointless as they kept arguing...

Family... when they fight you still have to stand by them. Though they are wrong or right you'll still be there to support them. As much as we hate things done their way we still stood by them. It's family, right? Blood is thicker than water, though we always fail to agree on everything or fail to understand each other properly, we can't ever turn away from them without a single glance back. When it's getting tense, we hang on in there; when it's becoming unreasonable, we try to make sense; when it's crumbling, we try to mend it and all in all that's what all of us have been trying to do. We try to do something to change things despite we know the possible outcome.

I kept quiet until my dad stalked off. I couldn't stand it so I just sort of told my brother off. My mom was crying even more as she keeps complaining bout the two of them and mostly bout my dad. Ivan just couldn't help but crying while patting my brother's back and mine. I wanted to cry so much as well but I couldn't let myself. I kept thinking that I had to be strong, I have to control myself, I can't breakdown as well. I just kept on holding the tears and after a while the urge to cry stopped. Everyone felt weird sitting in there and the atmosphere was totally ruined.

I hate family confrontations like that cause all of us will be sore for a while and it effects others. I pity Ivan the most, the youngest but caught in the middle of such stupid arguements. It's going to be hard to endure the week with the two looking like that. Goodness, your both adults, think of others before you start stupid fights like that. Lord, please help minister to them and spare all of us from further arguements.