The Importance of Family

I couldn’t decide if I should write a new post and act like nothing ever happened or if I should address my absence. I think I’ll act like nothing happened.

Spiderman 3 was an absolutely horrible film.  As a fan who had spent countless hours defending Peter Parker as one of the best super heroes [1], I felt personally offended (yet not surprised) that Marvel would create such trash and label it a cinematic experience.  Why am I discussing this movie which came out years ago? Because this post might end up being my very own Spiderman 3. You see, Spiderman 3 sucked for several reasons.  The main reason was that they tried to do just entirely too much.  Previous films focused on one major plot point. Spiderman 1 focused on Peter Parker battling the Green Goblin. Spiderman 2 focused on Doc Ock. Spiderman 3 said, “I know this is a wildly successful franchise so let’s go against what works and just put out bull excrement”. Spiderman 3 includes the following plot points: Peter and Mary-Jane’s rocky romance. Harry as the new Green Goblin following his dad’s death. Harry therefore wanting to kill Peter. The introduction of the Sandman. The battle of the Sandman.  AND VENOM.  Do you understand why this was a bad idea? There’s no way you can explain enough backstory to do all of that. It saddens me.

Anyway, because I haven’t blogged in awhile I have a lot on my mind. Therefore I, too, plan on taking this already-failed business model and applying it to this post. #logicalfallacy

1. My New Favorite Quote

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” -Aristotle

This means a lot to me.  It’s easy for me to justify hating the business that is higher education. Looking around my campus and knowing that at one point in history I wouldn’t have been allowed in the dorms or in classrooms is disheartening.  Also knowing that I’m benefiting from an institution that is probably financed by slavery just sucks. Alas, instead of taking a Garrisonian[2] approach and saying, “Maaaaan forget school!”, I’ve decided to reap the glorious benefits of these institutions and make myself a better person. Which leads to point 2.

2. The Importance of Family

Mama and Papa Huxtable are from California. Because of this, I never had the life where I could run over to Grandma’s house or go chill with cousins up the street. I’m from Virginia (collective sigh). Given the 3000 mile gap, I’d say Mama and Papa Huxtable did a great job of fostering real and meaningful relationships between me (and my brothers) and our extended family.

Every summer or so we made trips to California or on holidays some family would come to Virginia.  I loved it.  Being in an all-white middle and high school, living in an all white neighborhood, I’m not ashamed to say I just missed the presence of Black company. Sure they joked that I spoke differently or made fun of my Britney Spears/NSync obsession but that’s what family is for.

Even still, I never had that pivotal go-to-grandpa-and-receive-old-sage-advice relationship.  And maybe that just occurs in movies.  I don’t know.  But when I talked to my friend Adam about his relationship with his grandfather, I was definitely envious.  #DISCLAIMER# Because I’m sure my grandparents will read this, I do want to clarify something. I have an excellent relationship with them. They made countless trips across the country to be in my life and have always showered me with love and constantly reinforced what my parents already put in me. That said, I wasn’t mature enough or thirsty enough to have that teacher-student relationship with a family member on that level. That is, until this past weekend.

Those that follow me on twitter know that my eldest brother got married this past weekend. (That will be a different post).  For that grand occassion, family flew in from all over pretty much just Cali. We had a big family dinner one night with a bunch of my relatives. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Godparents, Parents, Brother, Cousins, etc. We discussed the usual, “Mama Hux put her FOOT in this food!!” “Hux, why didn’t you get some of these green beans?” “It has bacon in it. -____-” “You  don’t eat meat?” “No.” And thus, the vegetarian conversation ensued.  Then we discussed family matters. “Can’t believe little Marcus is getting married!” Then dessert with a side of politics.  “Can Obama win in 2012?” Politics in Virginia. Papa Huxtable then made a harmless comment about being a registered Democrat but ideologically being independent.   I commented that I too was a registered Democrat but had Democratic Socialist leanings. This is when the night got fun.

Cousin Westley, as he is affectionately known, hopped right on this comment. He asked me to explain my position, defend my point of view, and inquired further.  While on his quest to convert me to the wonderful world of capitalism, I fell deeper in love with my view point and defended it with more distinct fervor. He noted discrepancies between my opinion and how I actually lived and benefited from a Capitalist system. (Darn you Mama and Papa Huxtable for pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and truly making something of yourself and your children! *shakes fists at sky*)

Cousin Westley used anecdotes from his childhood to defend a free enterprise system. He was proud of my political journey and soon the conversation floated on to other things. After enough dessert and beverage of choice, he and a few other relatives headed for home. I, being the perfect child that I am, headed for the kitchen to aid in the clean-up process. I was then showered with praise. My mom, dad, godparents, and aunts all remarked at how proud of me they were. I was dumbfounded. “What did I do?”

They were proud that I just sat there and had an intelligent discussion with one of the most intelligent and respected members of our family (Not that there’s a hierarchy, you feel me). They were also proud that I held my position and didn’t simply give in to get out of the conversation. They went on to say they were proud of my accomplishments thus far in school. They were terrified that I traveled to Amsterdam alone but were happy to know that I wasn’t Taken.[3] They were proud of the paper I was working on, “The Evolution of Racial Nomenclature”[4]. They were proud of my plans for the future – Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. And they were just proud of our family as a unit.

This is a pretty personal post, which I don’t usually do. But when you’re constantly in a competitive atmosphere – be it higher education, your workplace, your sports team, whatever – it’s hard to realize when you’ve accomplished something. Being around family that genuinely knows you, what you’ve gone through, and where you are now, can be the most refreshing thing ever. Having that positive affirmation that I’m on the right track was just the boost I needed to get back to campus and get my body in the library and my head in the books.

I’ll try to blog as much as I can but just know that with the current attitude of success I have, there are things much more important than what happens when I connect to the Internet.

[1] Far better than Batman, for Batman is not a superhero but a mere mortal with fancy toys. He is the equivalent to Syndrome from the Incredibles.

[2] Mini-history lesson: Garrisonian Abolitionists (linked to William Lloyd Garrison) refused to vote as their way of showing their disapproval of the Constitution.

[3] My brother insisted on watching this movie right before I left. Rude.

[4] “Oh yeah, a sista got a vocabulary.” -Mr. Chi City  [5]

[5] If you don’t know who Mr. Chi City, you’re not winning. [6]

[6] I miss doing these post scripts. Ah, blogging. It’s been too long.

[7] I don’t know why www.MichelleHux.com is currently down. It’ll be up at some point.