Personal Narrative: The Italian-American Family

622 Words3 Pages

According to Broderick, Blewitt, (2015) there is no correct way to grief, everyone one deals with the loss of a loved one in their own ways. For example, recently my family has lost a member of our family, our beloved dog, Toby, died. Everyone in the family is handing Toby’s death differently, my mom and aunt and are looking at pictures of him and crying while my grandmother and I are trying to remember the good times we had, by swapping stories and experiences with him. This week I am working with a close-knit Italian-American family, which consists of Isabelle (wife/mother), Paul (oldest son), Sophia, and twins Lenore and Joseph. Recently this family has suffered the loss of Victor, the family patriarch, and Isabel's husband for 53 years. …show more content…

Now four months after Victor's death, Isabella is not coping well. Recently she quit her job as a sales person because she did not believe she was able to complete the job at a satisfactory level. She is also experiencing trouble eating and sleeping. Isabella has been reaching out to her children for support but finds a lack of support among her daughters, who do not know how to help their mother cope with the loss of her husband. Recently Isabella has been seriously considering asking her oldest son Paul if she could move in with his family.
Paul. Paul is the oldest son of the family, he is married and manages a small restaurant with his wife. Paul is feeling overwhelmed because as the oldest son he is expected to take on most of the responsibility. Paul understands his mother is grieving but feels hopeless about how to help her.
Sophia. Sophia is denial while she tries to be there to support her mother she is uncomfortable with the situation. She wants and needs her mother to be the same person she was before her father’s death. She has a strained relationship with her brother Joseph due to her brother going against her families’ wishes and prolonging her father’s

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