Beliefs about Family

           Mary Pipher’s short essay “Beliefs about Families” describes what a family is. Family members are those who are there by your side during hard times. People who help you when you need money to pay rent  or lose your job. To Pipher family doesn’t necessarily mean being blood related. There might be the case where one loses their mother and father and are left orphan. Others might have parents that abuse them. Abusive parents are not considered people who you can trust. In such cases friends might be considered family. Many people form their own community family and support each other. Finding family sometimes might be hard. In our culture many times people are shown to be rude and disrespectful, and people will not want to have any kind of relation with them. Also, because our culture is a money driven society, many people only think of themselves. Family is someone there for you, but because of our society it may not be so easy to have one.

          The essay “Beliefs about Families” was pleasant to read. I agreed with Mary Pipher’s definition of family. I believe family are those who try and help you, and they don’t essentially have to be blood related. I liked how Pipher gave examples of people and their experiences with the families they created. My favorite story was Anita’s story. Her parents abandoned her and she was raised by her aunt and uncle. And even though Anita tried having a relationship with her mother, her mother had no interest. Anita at least had her aunt and uncle who loved her. I really liked this story and people can see that they can have family with those around them.