Relationships and partnerships are important to me because they give you someone in which to share your ups and downs. It also means having someone to confide in, listen too, and be there for during their times of joy and sorrow. It’s important in life to have strong healthy relationships and for us to feel nurtured and cared for. Relationships and partnerships have not always come easy for me, but as I’ve grown older I’ve come to appreciate and understand them more. My parents divorced when I was seven, as mentioned in an earlier blog post, and I lived with my grandmother until she passed away three years ago. I have always felt loved and cared for by my family and friends. Sometimes when you see hurt and experience hurt, love relationships can be difficult. It took some time, learning and understanding to know that marriage is a wonderful thing. I had witnessed divorce and separation in so many relationships that part of me thought, “why should I do this”. Luckily I babysat for a relationship therapist who helped me to work through my partnership anxiety and fears. It wasn’t until I met my husband and had to take care of my grandmother, who had taken care of me, that I truly appreciated my relationships and partnerships with others.
I have many close relationships in my life. Those relationships include my husband, my sister, my dad, a great aunt, Dottie and Parker Harness, my pets, my church family, and my friends. My husband and I have had many ups and downs especially since getting married two years ago. My grandmother passed a few months before the wedding, my mom one year later, and a tree fell on our house a year ago April. We had the joy of buying our first home together and the reality of home ownership a little too close together for comfort. However, through this time we have comforted each other and cursed each other, but we yet we have held each other through it. We haven’t had to go it alone. Trials make us stronger and build our relationships and partnerships. These factors have made us a stronger more committed team. I have had my church family to lean on and help hold me up through many tough times and joyful times. They have encouraged me to be strong and prayed for me and with me. When the tree fell they came to lend a helping hand along with my dad. My dad has been there to say, “this too shall pass, it’s just one of those things”. This he has said on many occasions. Often times I hear this when I’ve been struggling through school, with a relationship, car trouble, or even a broken heart or broken bone. Each time it lets me know how much he cares and that he’s always there. My sister is recently engaged. As children our relationship was not close, but as sisters do we have grown closer together. We have cheered each other on at ball games, dance recitals, and graduations. We’ve planned funerals and weddings all of these factors have contributed to my relationship with her today. I’m sure sharing in this wedding will be the highlight of the year.
My Great Aunt Jane has encouraged me to keep going and complete my master’s degree. She’s talked to me about what my grandmother would do and say about completing my master’s and the suffering I am enduring this year in the teaching field. When a loved one can share with you what a passed loved one might say or do if they were hear sometimes warms the heart. Dottie and Parker are friends that are always there for me for help, encouragement, and sometimes just to help me take a good hard look at reality. They help me to understand life a little bit better. Sometimes we need people like them to help us face reality and to know that life happens. Dottie as a relationship therapist and friend has helped me with communication and understanding in my partnerships.
I also, have fun loving pets who, recently attend doggy school and have helped me to learn patience. They are always there for me and give me someone to talk to when others do not want to listen. If I’m not feeling well they know, and are there to help take care of me. Somehow having them around let’s me know all is well.
Communication is always key in a relationship and partnership. My friends and I talk at least once a week about the events in our lives. Sometimes these conversations are on the phone but sometimes they are at table. At table is where many relationships are built and made. It is important and a challenge to keep an open mind when talking with people, whether it is someone you are close to or someone you have never met. Overtime I have learned that to develop and maintain a relationship it is important to look at things from all angles, that there is more than one point of view. It is important to know that I will not always be right, and the grass may be greener on the other side. I won’t ever know if I don’t take chances.
My experiences with relationship/partnerships, including my ability to be an active reflective contributor, impact my work as an effective early childhood professional because I am able to keep an open mind and know that everyone’s family is not the same, nor are they like mine. I know that each child will be raised differently and every parent will not see things the way I do. This reminds me of hearing parents say, “they can do this at home”. Maybe they can and I’m open to that, but I want to see them do it at school. I live in the inner city grew up in a bad neighborhood, had parents who divorced, luckily a grandmother who was there for me, and I worked hard to earn a college degree. I know that my experience may not be like the families I serve or like those that I work with each day. It is important for me to take what I know and use it. Also, to discuss with others their experiences and learn about their cultures and experiences.
