The Richardsons

Video #4

"When you imagine a rich family, you imagine a fancy mansion with expensive coupes, maids and butlers everywhere, and children that aren't the sweetest in the world. Even though my family is very wealthy, we don't do a lot of the things that most families would do with our money. That includes no butlers or maids, unless we need them for cleaning the houses while we're away, no massive collection of cars, no limo drivers, yada yada yada. My family is just like your average family, but with a Porsche instead of a minivan."

As a kid, I was taught that family does matter. Even though my parents left home when they were 18, they always had a room in their heart for family. However, my family is a little bit odd.

Let me explain for you guys.

My family and I are far more closer with our second cousins than our first cousins. When I ask my parents why, they say that our second cousins are far more closer in distance than our first cousins who live more upstate.

Other than that, I don't know much about my family, other than my first and second cousins, grandparents, and immediate aunts and uncles.

And you're wondering why?

I'm doing it for a history project.

I'm in my grandmother's basement, doing a history project. Very relatable.

My father's mother. Alexa drove me here with her because she wanted to get out of the house and so, we are at grandma's for a little. Perfect, because Grandma has both sides of the family, my other grandma didn't want it.

I could've used my mother's family tree she made when she was in middle school, no. It's outdated and I'm not that lazy.

While looking around in the basement, I found a box covered with dust, tucked away in the back of a bookshelf. Taking it out, I blew away the dust baked on it and opened it.

There was a collection of pictures that looked like they were from my mother.

One picture had her and 6 other girls all in dresses, I knew this day. Mother told me about it. A girl named Mariana was the girl in purple, everybody else was in white.

There was also pictures of when my mother was a toddler, before grandma and grandpa split, when grandpa came back, etc. Mother and father couldn't afford a camera so they never took a lot of photos.

I looked back at the sweet 16 one. My mother's hair was noticeably darker and it looked like a shade of brown. She was as thin as a twig, and it was clear that she looked uncomfortable there. I mean, I would be uncomfortable too.

As a kid and even now, I can imagine the story in my head, although I am more closer with my father than my mother, I have respect for both of them. I love when mom would tell us stories about her time in high school, how she saved a party with her and dad rapping, her and dad going on a date instead of going to prom, and many more. Alexa believes that it's all lies though, and I always roll my eyes at her when she says "you guys weren't rich before you had me? Is that possible?"

Yes, Alexa. It is possible.

I researched a little bit more and found what I was looking for. From my mom and dad's side of the family. I'll be right back with you after I write this paper.

It took me a half hour but I finally wrote it all down. Read it and weep.

Family is often one of the most important gifts that a person could ever have. Growing up around people who care for me and a warm and loving family, I felt much love from both sides of my family. Although both are vastly different, they love each other and love me.

Firstly, my mother's side. My mother's family is a mix of German and Dutch. They are the more American side of my family, they still practice some traditions such as the watching of the movie "Dinner for One" for my German grandmother and eating oliebollen, a deep fried donut for my Dutch grandfather. The names that I call my mother's parents are grandmother and grandfather. 

My father's side is more traditional and doesn't hide their true roots. Growing up in a mixed household, my father grew up with a Danish mother and a Portuguese father. He knows very much about his culture and true roots, specifically his father's side. He practiced jumping into the new year on New Years Eve with his mother and preforming humorous work with his siblings and father. In 2009, my father's father passed away from influenza after his immune system couldn't take the cold Massachusetts weather anymore. I used to call him "Vovô" with meant 'Grandpa' in Portuguese. My father's mother is called "Nana".

Both sides of my family hail from Europe, and although the countries are somewhat spaced apart, they still have the same European soil to them. I am proud of being a mix of many different cultures as it broaden my horizons of culture. In terms of looks, I have my father's facial features and uncommon hair color while I also inherited my mother's genetic eye condition, in which the melatonin in my iris kept a brown shade instead of turning blue or green.

In conclusion, diving into family is often a wonderful venture for me to go into because I get to learn all about my ancestors and what they have done, where they have hailed from, and if I knew what they were like. Family is one thing that most people take for granted, not knowing that in reality, material things don't matter as much as the warm touch of a loving member of your family.

I read it over and cringed.

God, this looks like a 6th grader or a third grader wrote this. I'm probably going to start over, like I do with all of my work. After all, I am in all Advanced Prep classes, and it's a jungle in that crowd.