Rosa Maria Gramaldi Ruiz Wood was my interviewee but she’s better known as my mom. She was born in a Mexi Cali , Mexico Rosa ’s parents raised her along with 9 other siblings, 6 sisters and 3 brothers with a total of 10 children and each of them are still close to each other.
The interview took place in the kitchen at the kitchen table were we had many talks, and many dinners as a family. Throughout the whole interview, I felt very comfortable talking to my mom and asking her these questions; she also was very open with her answers and wasn’t holding anything back. If I were to interview someone else who was unrelated or who I didn’t know, I think it would have been more different than interviewing someone I am close with. The fact that it’s a person you just met and you have to ask all sorts of questions to them, it’s hard to tell if the person is going to be open to the questions or how they will take them. It could make the interview uncomfortable and full of nerves.
As Rosa was very close with her own siblings and her mom’s side of the family she was also close with her father’s side of the family. They had many family gatherings were everyone would come together and enjoy each others company. It’s a time where both families could come together as one. It seemed like the larger the family, the more closeness there was between everyone. Family gatherings, or parties, were very common, and seemed like every time there happened to be one, more and more family kept coming along. I enjoyed this very much growing up, because it’s still nice to see my mom be so close to her sisters and brothers throughout the years, and also show so much love towards them and there kids as well. It shows that no matter how big or small the family, a bond between family and siblings is always going to be close. They were taught and raised to respect, not only everyone around you, but especially your elders. The fact that they take care of us and look after us deserves that and respect in return.
On both my mom and dads side of the family, I know everyone and I am close with each and every one of them. I do tend to see my dads side more than my moms side because all of my dad’s side lives here in Palmdale, close to us so it’s very easy to go out and see my aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandma. My mom’s side does still live in California, but they live in the valley, which is 45 minutes away but still hard to see my aunts, uncles and cousins because of the distance. Family gatherings, birthday parties, or holidays are what bring me to see my mom’s family a lot. I would have to say that the parents and grandparents have the most influence in decisions made in the family than the children do. This is because even though we are voiced to our own opinions and decisions, we have to show respect to our parents and elders in the decisions they make for the family as a whole.
Interview with Rosa :
Question 1: With which family members did you tend to socialize with the most? Who did you spend holidays with?
Answer: With the third generation, including me, and my oldest sister.
Question 2: If you needed help, place to live, money or child care, who among your family members would you feel comfortable turning to?
Answer: Would only turn to mom for everything because they always had an open communication.
Question 3: Are there family members your subject will not interact with or communicate with? Why?
Answer: no there was none because she was close with her whole family.
Question 4: Are there family members your subject knows little about?
Answer: No, knows everyone very well.
Question 5: Is the subject family located in a relatively central area or are they spread out geographically? Have family members migrated during his/her lifetime to another country? What were the reasons? How did this affect the family as a whole? Or if the family has tended to stay in the same place geographically, why have they chosen to do so?
Answer: All live in a central area. Yes, mother migrated family from Mexico to the United States
Veronica, I enjoyed how your post was written. I find many similarities between your relationship and this interview with your mother as I do with mine (my interviewee). For one, our mothers were both raised in traditional homes in their cultures. Like your mother, mine also came from a family of ten children and they were very close. I personally love being a part of a huge family. Are you the same? I think it's so special.
ReplyDeleteyes, i agree with you. being part of a large family is very special. although its just me and my older sister, the rest of my moms family is really big and i enjoy the fact i have so many cousins, some just little babies and some older starting families of there own making my moms side even bigger.
ReplyDeleteI love that your mother was close with everyone in her family. That is something I have always wished I could say about mine. Also WOW! she had a very large family!! Is it hard to remember all of your family member's names? ^.^
ReplyDeleteAt times, it is hard to remember some family members. Like there are some cousins my mom talks to me about and I don't even know them because I rarely see them. And sometimes might mix then up with someone else. But other than that, I love my big family :)
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that it was very easy to talk openly to your family member. I had the opposite experience. I think it is easier pry for answers to difficult questions with a total stranger.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been on an airplane and had the person sitting next to you tell you their life story? I have flown many times, and I have had people open up to me telling me things that they probably wouldn't tell their best friend. Sometimes I think it is easier to talk to complete strangers because there is no risk. you could say anything to a complete stranger, and the worst thing that could happen is they could exit the conversation never to see you again. I think it can be hard to talk to family or friends because there is a risk to the long term relationship. What do you think?
I found it interesting how you talked about the leadership role your grandparents have in the overall family structure. In the United States, individualism and self-sufficiency are both esteemed traits, yet your family still prefers to delegate authority to the elders in regard to overall family decisions. In the case of my own family, distance prevented that from happening. Until very recently, the grandparents on both sides of my family lived in Mexico while we were here in the United States, preventing them from being too involved in our branch of family life. I believe the closeness, both physically and emotionally, of your family allows for more members of the family to be involved in decisions and to allow the older members to use their own experience and authority in the decision-making process.
ReplyDeleteGood interview with your mom. You did a good job of writing out the post as well.
ReplyDeleteYou say that both sides of the family are valued equally, regardless of being on your mother's or father's side. Can you identify what lineal pattern this most resembles? Is there any division of how your grandparents make decisions? Is your grandmother responsible for some things and your grandfather for others, or do they both make all decisions together, from gardening to cooking?