Jane Howard and Amitai Etzione
I chose to write about ''In Search Of a Good Family" by Jane Howard because she uses logic and truth to get her point across. I do believe a good family doesn't necessarily have to be the one you currently have. ''Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you\-*call it, whoever you are, you need one. You need one because you are human. You didn't come from nowhere'. " This means that it really doesn't matter what you call the people around you that care and love you, whether you like them or hate them, at the end of the day you need them. There are sometimes I wish i was born into a new family but when i sit down to think about it I wonder if other set of people would treat me as well as they do. " If our relatives are not, do not wish to be, or for whatever reasons cannot be our friends, then by some complex alchemy we must try to transform our friends into our relatives." I agree with this stament because sometimes the best family a person can have can be our friends. Family doesn't always sort to be our friends, they feel as though because their blood being our friend is unnecessary to having a good family. "Wishing to be friends, as Aristotle wrote, is quick work, but friendship is a slowly ripening fruit." This means that to have a friend is easy, but to keep that friend and friendship lasting consist of alto of effort. She says that not only blood can be family,sometimes those that are not related by blood make up the best family. If you didn't conceive me or if we didn't grow up in the same house, we can still be related, if we decide we ought to be". I make me rethink the true meaning of family because it seems as though we are able to make anyone we want family , but in the real word thats fare from being true. You can't just claim Bill Gates family or Oprah because you decide to. I think maybe what she was trying to say was it takes to come to such agreement. "The best-chosen clans, like the best friendships and the best blood families,endure by accumulating a history solid enough to suggest a future." I agree with this statement because saying you have a good family or a good friendship that hasn't really endured a long term of hardship and when through trails and tribulations is not worth calling a friendship or family because you don't really know who your dealing with. You don't know if this people are going to be there with you through your bad times not only good. She has a list of what she believes a good family should consist of. Number one being; Good families have someone around whom others cluster and who sets an example. I agree with this because every family need four to five role models to help guide the rest. Good families have a sense of place, which these days is not achieved easily. I agree with this because having a sense of place is very hard to find in families. So to have those who do is very important in a family. Good families also honor their elders. This would have to be my favorite because honor/ respect is something my generation fail to acquire. I believe at times family cross the line, but never realize it. Some times a person wants to feel responsible and grown but to family your always a child. This can really upset teenagers because we "believe" were grown and need no one to take care of us. We are humans, there for we are never content with what we have. This statement means that no matter what our families offer us we will never be stratified. We will always believe theres other family or clan out there that can fit our selfish desire.