Are you close to your family?

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Birth family: Mother- it's hard to say how close we were. She could do kind things. However she regularly told me I was an awkward baby/toddler/child/teenager etc. She also told me I'd never be as good as my father. That was despite them arguing a lot. My father - Was OK when I was very young. By the time I became a teenager he turned into a 'I'm the head of the house and I'll stand for no opposition' type of father. He went to Atlanta in 1981 to be British consul general. When his posting finished in 1985, he decided to take early retirement and stay in the USA. I saw him about once a year from 1981 to 2018. He's the only member of my birth family I've seen since moving to Wiltshire in 2017. Both my parents are dead. I'm closer to my brother than my sister. we exchange a good number of emails each week. My sister and I have never been overly close. She's quite hard hearted, whereas my brother and I aren't.


Chosen family: Although not blood related my late wife's youngest daughter and I regard ourselves as father and daughter. Her birth father was a wrong un who was off the scene before she was school age. We have known each other for over 40 years. I'm a grandfather and great grandfather. I love my chosen family and they love me. I can say 'I love you' to them with far more ease than I've ever been able to with my birth family.

Unfortunately not enough

I never had a close relationship with anyone in my family including my parents. I'm an only child so I spent more time with them than the rest of my family.

It seems that family relationships can be quite difficult for almost everyone. My parents were not easy to deal with and were kind of demanding, expecting me to spend a lot of time visiting them, for instance, but they were never less than loving and supportive and I really miss them a lot. My father died in 2018 and my mother in 2021.