Tuesday, November 1, 2011

When family is all you have...is that enough?

Coming from a family of boys has its upside and downsides.  It seems like everything is great when there is peace and harmony, but when there is chaos and anger...well, let's just say that it can seem like the end of the world as you know it.

As I talk to the people that I meet about family, the responses that I get range from full head-on agreement to a cursory nod.  I know that everyone doesn't share the same sentiment that I do because their circumstances may be somewhat different. Some may even think that I may be rubbing my good fortune of having siblings that love and care about me in their face, and it may cause resentment.

Still, it's for that very reason that I wrote about three brothers whose personalities are so different from one another.  Brothers don't always agree.  Brothers fight.  Brothers may even say or do the most hateful things to make you leave them.  But that's with any family dynamic.  We say things to hurt one another.  We do things to alienate each other...sometimes purposely, sometimes not.

Well, sometimes when the chips are down, family may be all you have.  For some of you reading this, it may be of no consolation; to others it may be a saving grace.  I thought about this carefully as I wrote this story.  I realized that everyone doesn't share my experience of having a loving family.  But if I had that experience, then maybe others had it too.  And if they did, then maybe they can relate to the characters in this story.

Nate is the youngest of the three brothers who has managed to ascend to one of he highest ranking position in a drug distribution gang set up in a notorious neighborhood called, "The Block".  His oldest brother, Jai, is a successful attorney in one of Philadelphia's top law firms.  Jai's boss has come to him with some information that he received from a police detective by the name of Matt Prescott that incriminates Nate.  But we all know that things are never as they seem.

So what happens when family is all you have?  Would that be enough?  Sadly for some of us, it is never enough because we may live in a place where family has hurt and disappointed us repeatedly.  There is  nothing that they can say to right the wrongs.  But what would happen if those same people put aside their differences for just a moment and remember the good times?  Would that be enough to open the heart and mind to accept help if indeed help is needed?  Could you go back in time to a place where hardships consisted of not having enough but knowing that you'll make it because your siblings were there with you? Is it enough?

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