Love, Dare, Grow: Part 3

Love, Dare, Grow: El Cerrito Families Part 3

For part three of my series of interviews with El Cerrito families, I interviewed my daughter Magdalene Gabriel. Her ideas about family ended up very much fitting with my own, but it was also beautiful to read the way her ideas and feelings are different. Magdalene is a 14 year old freshman at El Cerrito High School.

Who is family?

My family is my mom, dad, brother and my dog. My family is my uncle james and my aunt amy and Erik and Terry.

How do you know?

I know because they’re the people that I love and the people that have raised me.

What is unique about your family?

When a lot of people think of family, they think of people related to them by blood, their ancestors. When I think of family, I think of people like my aunt amy and uncle james, and those people aren’t actually related to me by blood, but regardless they are still my family and I love them.

Why is family important to you?

Family is the people that have raised me. Family is the people that have helped me with my homework and influenced my interests. Family is the people that have and will support me unconditionally. Family is the people I will always go to, no matter what. That’s why they’re important to me.

What does home mean to you?

Home to me is the place I go back to after school and the place I wake up at, but home can also be the place that I feel most comfortable and most myself, just like family is the people I feel the most comfortable and myself with.

What does home look like to you?

Home looks like a house with a red door. Home looks like a backyard with a laundry shed and a bedroom with blue floors.

What are your dreams for your family?

For us to go to Iceland together. For my mom to win every poetry contest and award you can think of. For my brother to graduate from OSA and then whatever art college he decides to go to.