Kinship Interview

1. 1.  My interviewee by choice was my mother, Crystal Rosenlund, whose maiden name is Richardson. She is a sister to two younger, twin brothers and who was born in Ohio on September 15, 1974. She grew up in this area and in Arizona and California as her father was involved in the military. Her mother was mostly home and father left after she was age fifteen. Both mother and father were from pretty average sized families and my Grandmother Carolyn, her mother, was the youngest of three children. My Grandfather Alfred, her father, was one of two children from his mother Buela who my mother was very close to. She is still alive and well at age 90 and her other grandparents from her mother’s side are also still alive. Mildred Scott, her grandmother was also someone she was pretty close to. My mother was raised in a family with thick twang accents and of the Catholic religion but never really fit in to this belief as she is now Mormon. She was always the calmer of her siblings as her two brothers were big troublemakers all growing up. Her family consists of descendants from a European and Native American ethnic background. 

2.   2.   I was pretty comfortable during this interview because my mother and I have discussed family history quite thoroughly a handful of times, yet it always is a little bit of a deep conversation when brought up because her father left her and her brothers when they were still kids and was abusive to her mother. So bringing back these thoughts were a little painful to think about for us both as is thinking about who she was closest to because her Grandmother Buela was who she was closest to and now she is getting much older so she worries about her. If I were to have done this interview on someone I was not related to I believe it would have been harder to be as interested in all the information and easier to not get so attached or effected by the answers. I feel like the thoroughness of this interview went well because we are able to open up to each other about everything but it would have been harder to get personal with someone unrelated maybe.

3.3.     I never met my Grandfather on my mother’s side so I cannot speak too much for him, but the socialization level on my Grandmother and mother’s side is apparent by them both. They both tend to have very nervous laughs and may seem very sociable but are more introvert than outgoing. My mother even more so than my Grandmother as well as my uncles. They are more closed off with people than someone who is super outgoing per say. My mother always felt more of a closeness to her father even though he left them at a young age because she always wanted to rekindle that relationship and always felt maybe it was her and her mother’s fault for why he left them but my uncles have seemed to favor their mother more so, knowing of how harsh their father was with them and their mother.  My mother was his “favorite” so to speak when he was around so I think it confused her most. It seems that in my mother’s side of the family the maternal roles take the lead more so. In her side of the family there is a trend of an average amount of kids everyone has but in my mother’s case she broke that trend with her 7 children. Within her family there are some ethnic differences within her cousins as some are also African American but this has not shown much of a difference in the way they socialize since they all come from the same area so they all are adapted to that environment specifically.

4.    4.  I know my mother’s and father’s relatives both pretty well, but I have not socialized an equal amount with all of them unfortunately. My mother’s relatives all mainly live in Ohio and I live in California so that basically speaks for itself. My father’s relatives are pretty spread out and some have passed now so I only got the past years I had with them to look back on. I would say that my Grandfather on my father’s side is the biggest influence in decisions that side of my family makes because he is the one that is kind of a crutch for all of the children and their children when things get tough and is always thinking of every possibility to make sure things run smoothly. On my mother’s side there is not really a decision maker for that side of my family because they all kind of do whatever they feel like no matter how crazy and no one listens to each other whether it’s advice or an order, including the children. My mother would definitely be the most level headed from her side of the family though. On my mother’s side family members that are married into the family does not really occur often since most are not married but my mother is and her husband is treated more friendly than my grandmother’s actual children as if he is still always a guest or friend of the family, but on my father’s side I have an Aunt Gayle that was married into the family as well as an Uncle Brian married into the family and Gayle is treated like she is one of their own, but Brian is secretly out of the loop more so from the group of family members that are closest but that is mainly based  off of his personality. There are huge differences I have noticed within the two sides of my families regarding gender. On my mother’s side it seems as though the boys in the family are always favored and babied more so but most of the boys on this side are not very independent and this may be why. On my father’s side the girls are more favored in the adults it seems though they are independent just majority are girls and the men on this side adore them all. I have really gotten to analyze my family a lot more within this assignment and I actually enjoyed doing so a lot I am able to understand the differences in character and why a lot better in each side of my family.