Kinship (too long of a post!)

I am interviewing my Nana, Barbara Corson who is my Mother's adopted mom. She was born in New Jersey but moved to Maine with her husband. She went to high school in Maine and never went to college. She now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada volunteering in elementary schools where she teaches Spanish, helps the Native American children, and fundraisers. She was born in a middle class white family and still is in the middle class. 

Her family members included: her sister Sandra, her three children Susan, Bob, and Genene, her grandmother Margaret, her grandfather William, her mother Barbara (Sr), her father Robert, her husband Bud, and her adopted grand kids Nicolette and Andrew.

I didn't really have a plan or style to how I interviewed her. I already knew about her family members names but not all of their stories so, I mainly stuck to learning about them. She's my Nana so, I knew everything was open and there would be no awkwardness or personal issues, which made it easy to complete this assignment. On the other hand, interviewing someone I was not related to would vary depending how long I had known them. However, I usually find that people don't mind explaining their families to people, whether they are related or unrelated. I am assuming since it's an easy subject, has happy/emotional memories for them, and they are always (usually) around them so there is a lot of information.

My Nana is an open book so, there wasn't really a preference to certain types of people or women vs. men, although she did frequently only talk to the women in her family but that's because her father was abusive and she only has one son who is not a momma's boy and then her husband and grandson. We (on my mom's side) tend to have small/broken families due to children running away (her grandmother and my mother) and simply just wanting smaller families. As well, her oldest daughter is a lesbian in a very committed relationship, her son is a bachelor but in an on/off relationship for last six years with his first marriage ending in divorce, and her adopted daughter is the only one with children and she is also divorced. However, with small families we tend to all be really close and keep in connect with everyone.

1. Margaret
1. Dead
2. Grandmother
3. Scotland
4. Communicated
2. William
1. Dead
2. Grandfather
3. Scotland
4. Communicated
3. Barbara (Sr.)
1. Dead
2. Mother
3. New Jersey
4. Frequently communicated (stopped after her daughter moved to Maryland)
4. Robert
1. Dead
2. Father
3. New Jersey
4. Rarely communicated
5. Bud
1. Living
2. Husband
3. Las Vegas, Nevada
4. Always communicating
6. Sandra
1. Living
2. Sister
3. Maine
4. Always communicating
7. Susan
1. Living
2. Daughter
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Always communicating
8. Bob
1. Living
2. Son
3. Saugus, CA
4. Frequently communicating
9. Genene
1. Living
2. Adopted daughter
3. Santa Ynez, CA
4. Always communicating
10. Nicolette
1. Living
2. Adopted grand daughter
3. Saugus, CA (moving to Glendale, AZ)
4. Always communicating
11. Andrew
1. Living
2. Adopted grand son
3. Santa Ynez, CA
4. Frequently communicating

1. With which family members did you tend to socialize the most? Who did you spend the holidays with?

  - Her sister: She is her closest relative, they communicate weekly even though they live in Maine. However, she socializes with the females in her family more than the males. As well, holidays used to be spent with her husband and her parents; now they have holiday parties with friends and family. 

2. If you need help, who among your family members would you feel comfortable turning to?

  - Her children would be the ones to help however, she notes that financially we (her husband and her) would be the ones to help.

3. Are there any family members you will not interact with or communicate with? Why?

  - There are no family members I would not communicate with for any reason. "My door is always open."

4. Are there members of your family that your subject knows little about?:

  - She didn't know a lot about her great-great grandparents who were solely in Scotland and she knows next to nothing about her father's side of the family since they were never in picture nor did they have a good relationship.

5. Is the subject's family located in a relatively central area or are they spread out geographically? Have family members migrated during her lifetime to another country? Why?

  - Her family started out in Scotland with her grandmother and grandfather. Her grandmother ran away when she was 14 with her older sister and ended up in London. Her grandmother's "family" emigrated to Cuba, then Chicago, and then with another family they moved to New York. Her husband was a naturalized citizen of Scotland when they met in New York. Her mother and her family grew up in New Jersey and she was the first one to leave (to Maine) and her mother resented it till the end. Her and husband then moved from Maine to Massachusetts, California, and now in Las Vegas. As well, besides her sister, who lives in Maine, her children all live in California.

6. Do you know relatives on bother side's of your family?

  - No, she only knows her mother's side of the family due to her father and her having a broken relationship.

7. Do you socialize with them equally?

  - To make up for not knowing her father's side she always kept in touch with her mother and always talks to her sister even with her across the country.

8. Which family member had the most influence on you?

  - Her husband because her younger sister is a lot younger than her (she is 70 and her sister is 48) and her mother resented her for a while after she moved away from New Jersey and was really the first family member to stray the family. So, her husband kept her grounded and stable and their family kept them grounded while they moved farther from her family.

9. Are family members who enter the family treated differently?

  - They only had her husband, her son's ex-wife, her adopted daughter's ex-husband and current husband as those who marry in to the family and she treats them with the utmost love and comfort. She tries very hard to create a common ground and have the whole family stay very closely knit, including those who are brand new to the family. 

0. Are there attitudes towards family members based on gender?

  - Definitely not! Her adopted grand daughter is with a transgender man and she treats him with the greatest amount of love and they are always communicating! As well, the whole family is very welcoming and humble and due to their diverse love lives, they do not judge or criticize. As well, females and males are treated equally and expected to due equal work outside and inside the house.

11. What insights have you learned about your family through this exercise?

  - I learned a lot more about my great-great grandparents and more deep in to her families past. For example, my great-great-great...was the first governor of New Jersey! As well, I learned more about how open and welcoming my family really is. I am very lucky to not have a "traditional" family because they all are really unique characters and are not like each other at all which gives me a variety of people to go and talk to for different situations.

KINSHIP CHART COMING TOMORROW!