Family Structure

I'm going to talk a little about my family structure and the effect that I think it has on my relationships with my parents and other members of my family. Up until the age of nine I lived in a normal nuclear family. I lived with my mom, dad and two sisters. I had a half brother who was much older and on his own. We were well off. Both of my parents worked and we were provided for. There was no complaints. We went to a good school and had good care at the same time. After I turned nine years old, my mother died of a rare form of cancer. My family structure switched from nuclear to an extended family household. My grandmother moved in to help watch us in the mornings and set us off to school. She would cook our meals for when my father got home and kept the house under control. We still had a good structure. There were little arguments here and there because grand parents have a different mind set and morals and values than our generation, but it still was a peacful family for the most part. After a little bit, my father and grandmother started butting heads a lot and my grand mom moved back home. At this point, I switched family structures to a single parent household. My dad my two sisters and me were the only ones there. We loved it. We would play games and he would put us in after school sports because he would work later then we would have the night to spend together. This created a special bond with him. However, he was clearly not the happiest. He didn't have a spouse and was always exhausted trying to the job of both a mother and father. We could see how much he strived for the same family life that we had when my mother was still around. After about a year of that, he met a new lady who was my cheerleading coach. They ended up hitting it off and I loved it. I loved her and I loved that he was happy and smiling again. She eventually moved in with her 2 children and her other 2 children lived with their fathers. I now had a step mother! It was different because her and my moms parenting styles were different but it still worked. She also wasn't used to working. The financial situation took a turn for the worse. We couldn't be involved in as much as we used to. I loved my new step mom at first but this started to take a tole on our attitudes as children not getting what we wanted. Also, I did not love my new siblings. They were bratty and spoiled and we did not get along. It was terrible! I was now in a blended family. I never lived with these girls before and now I had to consider them my sisters? I was miserable. There was favoritism like in every blended family and me and my sisters felt unwanted. My dad spent less time with us because my step mom was around and the other two girls needed attention as well. After a while we all became best friends and now, 8 years later, talk everyday about everything. I think being through all the different family types has helped me grow up and be more open minded about different situations. I wouldn't change anything.