Family

The word “family” is a strong word and should have a meaning for everyone, but unfortunately that is not always the case. A family comes in all kinds of sizes and origin. Some are a small family of two, “a husband and a wife”, or a couple with a child, or a couple with many children. Then there are those who do not want to have children and considers their pets as family. How ever anyone perceives family, it should have meaning. I myself have been curious about the people who approach me for money, or the ones I see living in the streets. I often wonder where their families are and do they know that person is living in the streets. I know most of the people who live on the street choose the life they lead and some have been put in a position or something, but never the less, my curiosity is do their families know or care that they are in these situations. I myself come from a family of seven and have four children of my own and I would not like to see any of my family members in that same situation. Every time I come across someone begging for money, food or see someone holding a sign that they are hungry. I sometimes wonder, if they are living in the streets or do they have families that know that they are sleeping in an ally or beach side. I have come across places that you can tell a transient has been sleeping in that area and again I wonder where their families are and do they care. I know that all of us who have families that care about us or those of us who looks out for family members are very fortunate and bless. Whether I am in good terms with my family members or not, I still would not want to see them living in the streets. I know the saying goes, “you can’t help those who does not want to be helped”, but I would feel really bad if I did not try to do something for any of my family members in that situation. If someone who has a family in that situation, I often think about if they even tried to look for help for that person or even suggest program or church they could talk to. There are so many programs and churches out there that are available. So my point and question is, how does these homeless people end up existing the way they do and do they not have someone in their life to care about them, doesn’t the word family have meaning anymore. I guess that is something that I will never really know, but I am glad that my family and I have each other.