The Ice Breaker
Family Ties
“So, what have you learned in ToastMasters?” my mom asked. I was hopping with excitement to answer, I stepped on my brother’s foot, tripped my sister, and landed on the youngest. They just stared at their crazy ate. After the laughter had subsided, I was able to answer, “A lot apparently! See, I can step into the shoes of my audience, sweep them off their feet and have them looking up at me.”
That’s a near-typical scene at home where the chaos theory reigns supreme. Ours is one made up of two hormonal teens, a pre-teen who thinks angst is as fashionable as Naruto, and a cool mom who gets mistaken for her children’s sister. An integral part too are the special friends who are as much a fixture in the household as the kitchen sink, and the family dog who likes to think she is anything but. Oh, and of course, there’s me.
I’m on top of, behind, everywhere and nowhere in this carnival ride called family life. It just so happens that ours has skidded beyond the amusement park. It’s not always a walk in the park, you see. With the different and changing personalities alone, it would not be unusual to wake up to dirty clothes flying, kids duking it out over who gets to use the phone, adults trying to make heads and tails of the everything – and dog hair. Lots and lots of dog hair – in your clothes, shoes, pillows, – even your dinner plate!
But it also means coming home to doggie farts and nose licks, back rubs and belly scratches, having your clothes and slippers laid out for you to slip into, your bed made and ready to climb in to, and welcoming, albeit sticky arms ready to hold you even, and especially when you’re too grouch for words.
That’s family life for you, well, for me at least: a mind-boggling mix of bickering and banter, teasing and torment, tugs and hugs, and a partridge in a pear tree.
My family and loved ones drive me insane, but it’s also for them I hold on to my sanity. They keep me grounded, but never hesitate to encourage me to soar to new heights. We stand together in dealing with the realities of life, and just as well dream together of good times, better tomorrows, and the best we all can be.
I am a product of the sum of our personalities and experiences. My eyes they say I got from my mom – just as my brother has. The visions we share are borne of the mutual desires to see each other through the best and worst of times. My sisters and I supposedly sound alike. That makes it confusing for clueless callers. That makes it easier for us to raise our voices in unison - be it to protest a curfew, or praise a good-deeder.
Wrinkles and fine lines? From all those sleepless nights worrying, fretting, fussing over the smallest detail like art paper and taking meals on time. But there are also the laugh lines – and these are from all the moments of full-hearted laughter borne of all the goofy, silly, simply-happy moments we share.
Why talk about family as Ice Breaker? I believe that the kind of relationships you build with your family shows who you are. That, my fellow Toastmasters is what I have also come to learn here – build ties, strengthen bonds, and most of all, enjoy and celebrate each others’ presence, in a club that I hope could also come to be called, family.
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
