Urban Vignettes Week 3: The Motor Family

The Motor Family

Family Life

Although family is a general universal concept, it means something entirely different to me than to the guy that lives next door.

When I was really little, I thought family meant just the people in my house. As I grew, I realized all the people who came over for dinner occasionally, and whom I saw every holiday, were also family. At a family reunion with my mom's grandfather's children, grandchildren and great grandchildren family expanded to hundreds of people I didn't even know, but was connected by this one person.

Grandma dancing.

When I was 10, my maternal grandfather and grandmother came to live with us so my mom could care for her dying father. Then I learned that family means you take each other in, even if they lived far away before. In high school, a sister moved home to pursue a graduate degree. My oldest sister divorced and moved in with her two children. My brother finished college and moved home for a year to save money for a house. With nine people in the house, I realized that family is not static or linear. It contracts, expands and evolves over time.

My second oldest sister moved away to Florida when I was in middle school and she returned for a few months when I was in college between moving to Paris and moving permanently to Switzerland. We see her son only through Skype, aside from the occasional visit. I've lived in Chicago, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Chile, and Italy, and I visited my sister in Switzerland. My brother lived in Germany for two years. Communicating across the globe has become familiar to our family, even for my two 90+ years old grandmothers. I would disagree that families are breaking down; more so breaking out and relearning how to respond to a globalized economy.

Grandma Nicastri at Christmas with her great-grandchildren.

We preserve our traditions in Christmas festivities - we each contribute a dish from our various cultural backgrounds for our big Christmas Eve dinner. in 4th of July BBQs, Easter egg dying and egg hunts, in birthday parties/dinners, weddings, and other small holidays throughout the year.

Annual Christmas Sibling Photo

I wouldn't trade my unique family evolution for anything. I have been a youngest child, an only child, a middle child, and an oldest child; an aunt, a friend, a cousin, a sister-in-law. a granddaughter, and a daughter - all whilst living among my family.

Family Wedding Portrait

Sincerely,

Kaity Nicastri,

Detroit Lover

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