A family of a mom and a dad, parenting three lovely children, in a lovely home.
Each member never to argue with another. No family squabble, no sibling rivalry, no favoritism.
With high-paid jobs, mom and dad don't have any financial worries, and can afford the best education for their children.
All-round entertainment is naturally occurring as well. There's the week-long travels, dinner at fancy family-friendly restaurants, weekend movie trips and the occasional home-based activities such as family board games and family TV session.
Everyone else is either a gracious neighbour, a trustworthy friend or a helpful colleague. Neither an enemy nor a school bully face any of them.
This is the kind of family that exists only in pleasantville.
Every family in this world, of present times, and that of yesteryears, have difficulties. Some families are financially crippled while others have monstrous neighbours that seem to trail them, wherever they go, taking up different faces. Some other families hold a member with health issues that plague them with groans in the middle of the night and medical bills that halved their total income.
Some families are adoption-based, every member not related by blood. Some families are not even a family, with the parents not having a care for the children's well-being, or the children treating the house as an inn and the keepers, the parents themselves.
Some people don't even have a family. The problems that face every family, are just too numerous to mention. Each family have their own set of unique problems.
For families with problems financially, or problems with sickness, we should take consolation that we still have a family. A family that stick together through difficult times and have faith that good times do pay us a visit once in a while. Though not everlasting, it still is something to be joyful about.
For those of us lacking in a full membered family, such as deceased parents, let us take consolation that we have our brothers and sisters to love for. Or a mom to love for, for those with a run-away dad.
For those without communication going on within the family, let us not regret it in later years. Let us not wait until it is too late. Be there for one another in each of our life's milestones. Or the very least, let us be updated with each other's progress in life.
And for those without a family, start one. Being neighbourly is a start. Let the neighbours will be our family, where we drop by to say hello, and drink a cup of tea together. And let the neighbours help with our problems, and we, help them with theirs, whenever possible, and permitted. Otherwise, we could at least open up our highs and lows to them.
Solutions are ever ready, only waiting to be retrieved. But whatever the solution, do not hope for a pleasantville family. Take consolation in what we have and be thankful for that. There are always someone out there, worst off than us.
And remember, a family is not something that can be bought off the shelves of a supermarket, or loaned from the library. And whatever family we are in, it's the only one we have. Embrace it.
Each member never to argue with another. No family squabble, no sibling rivalry, no favoritism.
With high-paid jobs, mom and dad don't have any financial worries, and can afford the best education for their children.
All-round entertainment is naturally occurring as well. There's the week-long travels, dinner at fancy family-friendly restaurants, weekend movie trips and the occasional home-based activities such as family board games and family TV session.
Everyone else is either a gracious neighbour, a trustworthy friend or a helpful colleague. Neither an enemy nor a school bully face any of them.
This is the kind of family that exists only in pleasantville.
Every family in this world, of present times, and that of yesteryears, have difficulties. Some families are financially crippled while others have monstrous neighbours that seem to trail them, wherever they go, taking up different faces. Some other families hold a member with health issues that plague them with groans in the middle of the night and medical bills that halved their total income.
Some families are adoption-based, every member not related by blood. Some families are not even a family, with the parents not having a care for the children's well-being, or the children treating the house as an inn and the keepers, the parents themselves.
Some people don't even have a family. The problems that face every family, are just too numerous to mention. Each family have their own set of unique problems.
For families with problems financially, or problems with sickness, we should take consolation that we still have a family. A family that stick together through difficult times and have faith that good times do pay us a visit once in a while. Though not everlasting, it still is something to be joyful about.
For those of us lacking in a full membered family, such as deceased parents, let us take consolation that we have our brothers and sisters to love for. Or a mom to love for, for those with a run-away dad.
For those without communication going on within the family, let us not regret it in later years. Let us not wait until it is too late. Be there for one another in each of our life's milestones. Or the very least, let us be updated with each other's progress in life.
And for those without a family, start one. Being neighbourly is a start. Let the neighbours will be our family, where we drop by to say hello, and drink a cup of tea together. And let the neighbours help with our problems, and we, help them with theirs, whenever possible, and permitted. Otherwise, we could at least open up our highs and lows to them.
Solutions are ever ready, only waiting to be retrieved. But whatever the solution, do not hope for a pleasantville family. Take consolation in what we have and be thankful for that. There are always someone out there, worst off than us.
And remember, a family is not something that can be bought off the shelves of a supermarket, or loaned from the library. And whatever family we are in, it's the only one we have. Embrace it.
