Family Transition Essay

Transitions
As my familial timeline progressed, there were a number of key moments that have defined the foundations of my nuclear family structure. Of these key moments, there are three chronological landmarks that have shaped my perceptions of life. They typically revolve around the sacrifices that are necessary for the sake of maintaining family and the fragility of the human experience
As mentioned beforehand, my father was quickly becoming disenchanted with his position at Ann Arbor circuits. In spite of working and living in the progressive township of Ann Arbor, Michigan, known for its anti-war rallies, college sit-ins and appreciation of emerging counter-cultures, he believed that his ethnicity and socio/economic background was holding
More specifically, diabetes and heart-related ailments have plagued my family, which already seem to be genetically predisposed to these impediments, due to the physical traumas of slavery, the forsaken lifestyles that were often given to blacks that were considered second-class citizens, and the self-depreciating dietary habits that are innocently considered just another element of the quintessential, “black experience”. All of these factors converged on my nuclear family in 2001, when my sister, Brittney Cheek was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. The day the diagnoses was determined, Brittney was rushed to the Mott Pediatric wing of the University of Michigan hospital and she actually entered a state of comatose for a few hours. Her blood glucose levels had reach almost 400 and she was in serious condition. Thanks to the quick and professional services of the practitioners, she was stabilized and her Juvenile Diabetes status was determined. This was another shock to the family, being that Brittney was only eight years old at the time. This near catastrophic health scare has forced my sister to temper a few of her life choices, as she has tried a plethora of diabetes-related technologies to increase her already high, quality of life. The proverbial silver lining is that Britney has been forced to become very mature at a young age and
Rodney was moved to an assisted living facility in Ann Arbor, and every Sunday during my senior year in high school, I would go to my Grandmother Clara’s house to pick-up a box of food and drop it off with Rodney. I would stay with Rodney for the entirety of a Football or Basketball game and then I would exit. Prior to my departure, Rodney would show signs of being broken inside and the tears would often shower from his face, reflecting the shame that he had felt being in such a vulnerable position. I would constantly try to lift his spirits up, and convince him to, “bust his ass” during his rehabilitation sessions. Our constant theme was having a heart of a lion. Uncle Rodney began to show slow signs of recovery, but on one faithful night in 2003, Rodney Cheek had another crack-cocaine relapse in his assisted living facility. The relapse would prove fatal. What is more troubling is that he was sold the crack in the assisted living facility, the self-proclaimed “drug-free” and “safe space”. For his funeral, I wrote and recited his eulogy, while also performing a spoken word poetry piece in his honor. Much of my Uncle Rodney’s addictions correlate with the works of James McBride’s, “The Color of Water”. In one passage Mcbride writes, “I had no feelings. I had smothered them. Every time they surged up, I shoved them back down inside me the