One day while discussing childhood memories with a friend, he mentioned that between 5:30 or 6:00 pm most days he would be outside playing with friends and would hear this distinct whistle. It was his dad's call to get home for supper. His mum would cook the meal; the kids would set the table; dad would come home from work and the family would gather for the evening meal. Married with children - that was a normal North American scenario in those days, 50 years ago.

 

Grandparents would come for the holidays and you’d visit with cousins in the summer. Family was family!  Yes, there were single parent families for one reason or another and yes, some folks lived alone, but both scenarios seemed few and far between.

 

I recall attending a seminar where a sociologist was giving a talk on the change in family structure. Apparently, families became increasingly mobile in the mid sixties and much of our extended family support was left in the dust. The typical family was changing. Statistics Canada has it in numbers.

 

Check out the Editorial in the Vancouver Sun *newspaper dated September 15^th.   A review of the 2006 census family related data reveals the following:

What about the trend we hear of that more grandparents are raising their grandchildren?

 

The Sun suggests the perfect family of the past may not have been so typical and perhaps typical should be replaced by diversity to better reflect today’s family.  So how do we comprehend the family of today?

 

The Oxford dictionary has a few takes:

So, who is family?  More and more adults appear to be choosing their own. Possibly,  family can be re-defined as healthy relationships giving rise to healthy communities;  a place of caring and nurturing, where love is in actions and deeds.

 

Perhaps a person can be a healthy family member in a faith community, a support group, a recreational group or team, a service club and even a profession.  A person living alone can have a family of friends and colleagues. Single parent children can have big brothers or big sisters or teachers as friends and guides.

 

Central to the feeling of family is a positive connection, healthy belonging.  It has been written “the more things change the more they stay the same”. Could this be true of families too? The shape may have changed but when all is said and done we are all in this together, one very large imperfect family.  The more we make positive connections with each other the better our global family will fare.

 

 

EnJoy!

 

Anthony

  

*www.vancouversun.com