Family is an essential part of our lives that shapes who we are and helps us grow as individuals. They provide unconditional love, support, guidance, and a sense of belonging. It's crucial to have a strong family unit as it helps in building character and teaches important life lessons such as empathy, compassion, forgiveness, and cooperation. Families create a safe space where one can express themselves freely without the fear of judgement or rejection. It's also helpful in times of crisis or adversity as we know they will always be there for us no matter what. In sum, family plays an enormous role in our lives and remaining close to them provides immeasurable benefits that cannot be found anywhere else.
Diane Funston
Monet’s garden alive with intense color Giverney that iconic bridge we held one another tight
oh kootchy kootchy coo hide and seek with baby surprise! does it tickle? all the little piggy toes
old strong peony bush outside my mother’s window hacked down every year so her dogs could look out
Nani Mariani
Healthy family relationships Have a positive impact on society Help each other Many orphans They are our family
Family is like a tree Treated with love Father and mother … Give real examples To help each other
Most valuable treasure in joy and sorrow is family looking forward to a long vacation gathered at the parents' house
Tuyet Van Do
watching her family grows she introduces newborn to the world
autumn afternoon proud grandpa shares photos of second granddaughter
crisp cold evening family dinner binding three generations food, music and laughter
Marilyn Humbert
mother’s day... I pick gerbera blooms arranging a bouquet, rainbows in a crystal vase my memories of Mum
we wait beside gran’s bed for petals to fall and the waning moon to drop below the horizon
after lunch the family joins in backyard cricket a willow bat whack and bin wicket thud
Kathabela Wilson
before twilight she spread her arms wide my mama with peanuts for them all a blue jay in each hand
after dad left mom only wore blue she asked me to wear her sparkly red shoes and all the other colors
a Great Wave hung over her bed her favorite Egyptian blue Hokusai blue mama my little mt fuji
Bonnie J Scherer
the time I tucked you in at night the surprise on your face and mine - your body so frail
dusting her half of the room we share - the demarcation of sisterhood
waffles on weekends for a family of six topped with sweet syrup our hearts fill faster than our hungry souls
Bryan Rickert
lights out in the bedroom wishing you held me as much as you do your phone
more trips to the doctor my child a little flower that just won’t grow
stargazing after your death our daughter asks which one is you
Hassane Zemmouri
my father's shoulders like snow falling from a tree my brother's exemption from military service
Jennifer Gurney
Love listening to them Laughing in the other room As I drift to sleep Comfort descending like a Downy blanket on my heart
I wear your sweater Like a second skin of love Around my heart Whispering memories Basking in the warmth of you
Do you remember When we ate space food, drank Tang And watched the landing? Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon … We became astronauts
Jon Hare
our politics and lifestyle differ our parents and upbringing the same brotherly love
holidays and joyous occasions the sad days braided together by all of our hands
spicy food learning to love the things your siblings wouldn’t eat
Roberta Beach Jacobson
dad's LPs all big band and New Orleans jazz fill my shelves his musical style is not mine but I remember every note
Friday is our spaghetti night we add lots of garlic and onions to nana's secret recipe
family of possums happy for apple cores and other treats we share at the end of each day
Debbie Strange
sisters by blood or by choice . . . these bonds that hold us together, even when we are apart
childless . . . this love bestowed upon strays whether human, or otherwise
they say I look like my father . . . the aspen that has cloned itself for thousands of years
Susan Burch
no one mentions that she’s not here the conversation filled with everything but suicide
a shepherd tending his flock I spend more time with my migraines than my family
the last remaining human organ in my robot body my great-grandmother’s evil eye
Mark Gilbert
a window open to the atrium sounds of children making her smile
in the 21st Century, the mother and father communicate through me, the sister and I through my mother
crushing daisies the father rolls down the hill his son follows in his footsteps
Wilda Morris
the pastor wore cowboy boots for the marriage of my eldest daughter is that why her groom walked away
Jackie Chou
my mother plucking a splinter from my toe how easy it is to love when the pain is gone
shirtless on a summer's day at age three I tell dad I want to be like women in the movies
my father and I watching Death of a Salesman in a playhouse... my erudite dad I've always admired
Jerome Berglund
a small man with a small mind imparts a small chromosome and it is crowned
Green Gables where you can sometimes get mad accidentally break things without being carted away
Sreenath Mysore
son moving abroad I'll miss my granddaughter . . . sinking into the sofa Laughing Buddha still smiling
when the only child is no more no mother wants to live pall of sadness blankets their house
summer holidays all my cousins come home a riot of games memories for a lifetime
Ram Chandran
dropping my son at the school gate, it seems as if yesterday my dad dropping me at this same gate
on the beach sand writing the names of his grandchildren... he forgets the name of the last one
must be a bird song in her dreams... the little girl giggles in her sleep
Gen Aguinaldo
black ants in straight line following an old gum sudden raindrops--- family dinner
picture day mother whispering everyone be quiet father thinking if he brushed his teeth
Olivier-Gabriel Humbert
vacation grandmother and grandson back from fishing empty-handed and frozen but singing in tune
through the keyhole of the old wooden door the children are watching their great uncle grumbling while tinkering
old cap near the workbench two sisters in silence are sharing the same memory of their father
Ruth Holzer
dad with a smile lifting his fragrant apple pie out of the oven mother with her knife
one day everyone in this picture will be gone-- parents, uncles, aunts row of cousins at my side
tonight I hear mother's footsteps again just as she would hear mine when I wasn't there
Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
the family helps define something essential marking the focus where things matter most
endless words can be used to describe a family images of strength and passion for life
C.X.Turner
working around another birthday gathering those close to me I love
kicking moonlit pebbles down a mountain path the strength it takes to let go
fragile in its elements my eyes trace the outline of you in silk for the last time
Christina Chin
5-year-old aunt shares her twenty-cent pocket money-- extended family
doing dishes before everyone finishes-- I wipe my hands
leaving home-- the younger siblings takeover her chores three girls and a boy
Randy Brooks
elderly siblings bread and butter sandwiches for some of us a fond memory
both parents gone . . . now officially my job to fret and worry over her
back home from Mom’s funeral a porcupine shows up on the porch for the first time
Richard Jordan
grandma’s warm breath on the picture window to clear away thick frost -- as geese fly south she turns and asks my name
I lift the trout fly as my father did to early morning light -- a perfect cinnamon sedge the last he ever tied
Anthony Lusardi
the rust under an old fashion tractor still in the same place where he once stood and grabbed his heart
weekly facebook posts the latest pics of us all growing and aging together
tour of duty; in the family portrait mom and the little ones plus dad through an iphone
Mona Bedi
cityscape -- the sun starts to settle on tall buildings how long should I wait before you return home
trumpet lily the soothing chatter of grandchildren … what would this life be without a family
family photo we all dress up in finery but it’s our puppy who steals the show
Chen-ou Liu
a silence after the bedroom quarrel envelopes us ... me and my dog again on the pullout couch
Family Day Festival in the morning sunshine one laughter running after another through a tunnel of blossoms
pulling out the last groundsel from her garden my wife admits the cracks in our marriage
Tracy Davidson
blood not always thicker the unwanted child wanted and welcomed by her new family
no snores in the nursery sleepless new parents running out of lullabies
family holidays exhausting every car game another wave of are-we-there-yets
Peter Larsen
my cousin Charley was the naughty one I always thought… the truth years later it was really me
retired at last my father took over cooking dinner he was experimental and my mother patient
my sister flips her playing cards jokers all finally chooses one who brought his own deck
Rupa Anand
years ago a father’s guidance on women’s education before marriage unusual for these parts
she was family for decades our love now gathers apathetic dust — what women do to each other
Steve Wilkinson
fractured family the winter ice cracks beneath the weight of betrayal
flowing from the hills to the sea DNA trickles down from the trunk to the twig
cost of living crisis the mothers and fathers that go without so that their children do not have to