“Families are the compasses that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter. ” This quote by Brad Henry, the governor of Oklahoma is exactly how the values of family were instilled in me since I was a small child.
I chose to interview my mother Katherine (Kathy) Goans when it came to evaluating the values regarding family. The values that my mother believes are most important were not surprising to me because she has done such a good job in instilling them within her children and their lives.When I had to choose who to interview the decision was easy for me, my mother was the perfect choice. My mother’s name is Kathy Goans; she is 55 years old, a mother of six, and a grandmother of seven. Growing up in a poverty stricken family my mother was always responsible for her four younger siblings so she had known from a young age what family values were most important. If the fact that she was already raising four children wasn’t enough she had her first child at the age of fifteen and her youngest child (me) at age 33.
All of those qualities have made my mom the perfect person for this interview because she has had a lot of experience with family and what it’s all about. The values that my mother said were most important to her when it came to family were trust, togetherness, and honesty. She believes the trust of a family is the backbone and the cement of the family which brings everyone close. Without the trust there wouldn’t be any communication, honesty, or togetherness, and without that there is a family with no real values or purpose.
Togetherness was the next big value that my mother believes is important. Togetherness can be defined as a feeling of closeness or affection from being united with other people. The definition of togetherness exactly describes how my mother feels about togetherness. She believes that if you aren’t able to be close with the family in an emotional and physical way then there isn’t going to be as strong of a bond between one another which could lead to future conflict.Growing up my mom wasn’t able to feel that much togetherness with her parents because they both were always working, and she was left home by herself most of the time, and that is the main reason she also relied on that value when raising her children. The third value that is most important to her is honesty.
My mom’s take on honestly is that by having that value within a family it makes the communication better, and the value of trust even stronger. To sum up all of the values that my mother thinks are important she said that “family is important, and when all else fails you still have family. The values of trust, honesty, and togetherness my mother also rely on the most when raising her family. Another value that she said that she instilled relied on when raising her family was being a positive mentor. She said that being a good example and staying positive she was able to instill good character traits within her children.
The other ethical values that she tried to instill in her children are hardworking and open mindedness. Working hard is something that she thinks that everyone needs to learn to do.Since she has had to work hard since she can remember it wasn’t hard for her to teach hardworking characteristics and instill them within her children. When it comes to be opened minded my mother said that value was a little less easy for her to try to instill in her children because she wasn’t always good at it. She had admitted that sometimes she can be a little closed minded and stuck in her ways but she has identified that as a flaw and has tried to make her children the opposite way.
When I received this assignment it was easy for me to choose who I wanted to interview because my mother has been the biggest female influence in my life.I always have and always will look up to my mother and her parenting skills and I believe that she has paved the road for future generations in my family to be as successful as she is. Going into this interview I had a pretty clear idea of the values that my mother was going to list. From the interview I learned that all of the values that my mother thinks are most important and the values she tried to instill in her children were all of the values that I feel most strongly about within family as well.
