How close were your parents with their siblings?

[Kitty 34]

In other words, did your parents hang out a lot with your aunts and uncles?

My mom's family live all over the U.S. so we really didn't know her siblings very well. And my dad just had one sister who we saw a couple of times a year, usually during the holidays.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We visited them every so often growing up all the sibs lived in different states.

My mom now keeps in touch with her sibs more than ever now that she is 72. In fact she just got back from CA with visting her brother for a week.

 

[Kitty 34]

We visited them every so often growing up all the sibs lived in different states.

My mom now keeps in touch with her sibs more than ever now that she is 72. In fact she just got back from CA with visting her brother for a week.

That's like my mom. She's 80 and just got back from California after spending a week with one of her sisters.

 

[pixiewings71]

My Mom and her sister live about 7 minutes from each other. My Dad and his siblings are all over the place.

 

[scottishduffy]

My father was close with his sister. We visited with her at least once a year even though she was out of state. I still try to see Aunt S at least once a year.

My mom has two brother: Little Brother is mentally ******** and schizophrenic. Older brother has always been a bad egg.

Mom gets along well with younger brother and he live close to her so she can watch out for him and care for him. She sees him every weekends and keeps up with all his doctors to do what is best for him.

Her and Older brother are not close, nor have they ever been. On a personal level they do not get along and pretty much never have. It is the classic goody-goody child vs. bad child and both feel resentment toward the other. However, she still looks out for him and does the best by him. When Uncle F had a stroke last year Mom brought him to a great hospital and rehab near her and did all the paperwork to get him the services he would need. They may not get along well but they will never abandon each other.

As a side note to Uncle F: Mom says one of the happiest days of her childhood was the day she was *supposed* to leave the country as foriegn ambassador for the girl scouts. She went all the way in girl scouts and even served as an ambassador for them and met the president as a girl scout representative. She had to miss the trip at last minute because a teenage F had been bouncing checks in Canada and got arrested. So her family had to fly to Canada to fetch him. She said it was so satisfying to see him sitting in the canadian jail.... even more satisfying when my grampa just left him there for several days to learn a lesson. Sibling Love!

 

[C.Ann]

Very close - except for the ones that lived in other states.. My dad's family was huge - but he had 3 sisters whose husbands were in the military, so they moved around a lot.. All of my uncles on that side (and their wives) lived close by (one uncle & aunt lived right next door to us) so we saw them very often.. Every Saturday all of the families would gather at my Grandma's house (on the same road as us - my grandparents owned all the land in that area and around us) and we would have a huge Italian dinner..

On my mom's side she had 2 sisters and a brother that lived in different states.. The other two sisters (one of whom I learned in my teens was my biological mother) lived locally.. My bio mom was married to a miserable excuse for a human being, so we only saw her once a month - when she wasn't in the hospital for long periods of time (she had severe health problems all her life).. My other aunt on my mom's side would pick up my Grandma every Sunday, then come and get me and my mom and we would go for very, very long Sunday drives.. (My siblings at that time were older and usually had other plans..) Those were good times..

Nice memories..

 

[golfgal]

My Dad had one brother, I think I saw him a handful of times in my life. My mom's siblings lived close except for her one brother. We saw the others often but I wouldn't say they were close.

 

[BELLE1109]

My mother's sister is a second mother to me. All of my family is very close and lives in a relatively small area. My mom grew up next door to her 1st cousins, so I am very close to them and their children as well.

If you live on the North Shore of MA...I am probably related to you! lol

 

[luvsJack]

Both of my parents were/are close to their siblings. My dad was one of three kids--he had a brother and a sister. They all lived within a few miles of each other and we used to see each other at least weekly. Only the sister is still living. My mom is one of 9. Her siblings were scattered all over but stayed in touch with lots of phone calls. Every Thanksgiving and Easter, all the sisters and brothers would go to my grandfather's house and later my youngest aunts for a big family get together and dinner. Mom and two sisters are still living and they talk every day and get together at one or the other's home for a weekend every so often.

You would think that some of the cousins would have been closer, but we aren't. Its fun to see them at different family functions but we don't really stay in touch. I miss those HUGE family Thanksgvings.

My siblings and I are close and dh is close to his siblings too. I actually think our kids and those of our siblings will be a lot closer than we were with our cousins.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Not at all, the whole mess was quite the hornet's nest.

I hope my own children learn from my DH & his sisters and do better for themselves. I admire families that can coexist in harmony, which is probably why I'm ok with living next door to the in-laws.

 

[indimom]

My mom's family - yes. We still get together with them at holidays and everyone is pretty close. They will bend over backwards for anyone in the family. This thread just made me realize that this group are the only aunts/uncles who have stepped foot into my house, despite the fact that the majority of both DH and I's relatives live within 30 miles of us. So, this group is definitely the tightest unit.

My dad's family - They tried. There were some issues within the family that made close bonds all but impossible. It's a pity because overall they are "good people" put in a bad situation and it was pretty damaging. There will always be tension there.

My MIL's family - yes. They are pretty close and still get together at holidays and just for fun. The sisters live next door to each other. Two of the brothers share a business and same hobbies.

My FIL's family - no. The sister who lives nearby is a "black sheep" with lots of issues. One brother lives in Panama and has only been to the US once in the last 20 years. The other brother fell off the face of the Earth for a decade or more and passed away about two years ago.

 

[antmaril]

My mother was an only child, so no sibs. However, she was close to her aunts and uncles, who were only a few years older than her. We spent a lot of time together. My mom died 28 years ago.

My dad had six brothers and one sister. He was close to all of them and we lived within 10 miles of each other. In those days, Sunday afternoons were spent visiting with one or more of my dad's siblings and their families. We would either go to one of their homes, or they came to our house. Only my dad's youngest brother is still alive - he is 88 years old. My dad died in 2002.

 

[sue1013]

Mom has 7 siblings 3 have passed away the rest are close. Our family was the rebels when I was 7 we moved 50 miles away from the rest of the family. I remember my gandmother crying that my parents were moving us to the boondocks! Even with that distance we saw her siblings a couple times a month. After my grandfather the family spread to a few different states. Moms 2 sister live in Fl though she doesn't see them often they talk a couple times a week. Her 2 brothers that live close she tries to see monthly.
FIL had 10 siblings a few have passed. The rest all live locally they see each other often. MIL has 8 siblings all local depends on the day which she is speaking to.