Family comes first!

Hello everyone,

Here I am sharing my new blog called  ‘family comes first.’

I had lost my grandfather from both sides before I was even born. From my mom’s side, my grandfather died of a heart attack 16 years ago and my grandpa from dad’s side passed away long back when my dad was a medical student. I have heard many stories about them, especially my grandpa from mom’s side. I really don’t know how it feels like to have a grandpa. But they are in my imagination. My maternal grandpa was an engineer and was very good in maths.If he was alive, he would be helping me with my math homework, telling me stories and jokes, and showing magic tricks. I have lost my grandma from dad’s side but remember spending time with her in Kathmandu. 

Family is so important in life. Siblings, mom, dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and your ancestors.Besides anything else, for me family is most important and powerful. Family is always there for you and they never judge.That is why there is a saying called “Family comes first.’

Last week I was reading a book called ‘Merci suarez changes gears” by Meg Medina.It is about a girl named Merci, a cuban american girl who is starting the 6th grade at Seaward Pines Academy, the best school in the state. Merci soon realizes that sixth grade is not a piece of cake as for  Edna Santos, a colleague of hers, who was also babysitting her twin cousins. They were also a sunshine buddy. Merci meets a boy named Michael Clark at the sunshine buddy program who takes interest in Edna. Besides this conflict at school trouble starts at Merci’s home.Things get worse as her supportive and caring grandfather (Lolo) gets diagnosed with Alzheimer’s , a disease that has no cure.Merci felt that she was losing her grandpa to Alzheimer’s.I will be talking about this condition next. To learn more about Merci and her families struggle with grandpa’s Alzheimer’s read this book. You can find a copy in a library or amazon.

Alzheimer’s disease is a disorder that causes brain cells to waste and die. Alzheimer’s disease usually happens to older people by the age above 60 but can happen in young people sometimes because of genetic changes . It affects your memory and you start to forget things easily but remember what happened years ago. People with this kind of dementia can start acting strangely and sometimes start behaving as a small kid, It continues to get worse with time and then they cannot take care of themselves.Some people with this dementia say,’ Alzhiemers turns you into a vegetable’. People with this problem need care and help with everything as they get older.There are many people with this kind of dementia and my  mom has  patients with this condition. There are medicines to help but it cannot be cured. I just read somewhere that doing crossword puzzles, coloring pages, chess,  sudoku and eating different spices can prevent you from getting dementia. But don’t know if this is really true. Scientists are doing research about Alzheimer’s. Ronald Reagan had dementia a few years after being the president of the United States and died because of the complications of Dementia. Every year there is a walk to support Alzheimer’s research in September and I want to be a part of the walk. 

Family is very important  especially for our elders. You  have to care for them and support them as they get older and weaker.  The grandparents and older parents by the age of 60 can develop many health problems related to age like arthritis, muscle issues, walking problems, stroke, heart disease, lungs disease, dementia (alzhiemers) etc.

Losing a family member is very hard. A couple months ago, my great grandmother died of old age and my grandmother (Nani)  was very upset. Last week, my cousin’s grandfather passed away in Nepal and they had to say their final goodbye on facetime. They couldn’t be with their grandpa because of travel bans in this pandemic.I really felt bad for them.  You are not allowed to eat for 13 days after a family member dies. You can eat fruits and water. People visit the mourning family and give them fruits. We sent them a box of fresh fruits(Apples, bananas, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, mangoes and cherries). There are many rituals that have to be followed after death in the family. 

So if you think that money, job/work and achievements comes before your family , you are terribly wrong. I believe that Family comes first.  I am really close to my family, especially grandma,aunt  and cousins. I am very proud of my cousins who have become so successful.  Most of my cousins are in college and two of them are out of college.  My oldest cousin (Call him Dada)  lives in Ohio and just became a doctor this year. My second cousin (A Bookworm) has graduated from UCONN and might be going into law school. My third oldest cousin (The nice one) wants to work in a bank and lives in London. My fourth oldest cousin (achiever with many prestigious scholarships)  lives in Maryland but goes to Duke University and University of North Carolina. Rest of my cousins are in high school, middle school and elementary school.  They are my role models who really inspire me and encourage me to do better. I feel lucky to have a wonderful family with loving parents, sister, cousins, grandma, aunts and uncles. And not to forget my amazing uncle (my dad’s brother who is a famous author in Nepal).

                     “Family is not about blood it’s about love”

I have talked a lot about family from my blood relation, but family is not all about blood.

  Our family friends do not share the same bloodline, but they feel like family. 

Including their kids, who i have become good friends with and I am the oldest from the ten or so kids.  All those family friends are our extended family.

Here I would like everyone to take a moment to think about what family means to you.

Thank you for reading my thoughts and remember “Family comes first”.