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The Irene and Ken Nears Family is an exemplary model of the “blended family”.

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Irene also returned to school, working and attending college to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Shaw University.

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Ken is employed at Family Youth Incorporated and is pursuing a doctoral degree at North Carolina State University in Guidance Education.

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c Irene and Ken brought to this union daughters, Sara and Kate, from their previous marriages.

a Having lost her first husband Irene became a single mother of her biological daughter, Sara, and adopted Meredith.

e She gave her a stable, loving and secure family.

f When Irene married Ken, he brought with him another teenage daughter, Kate.

b Through their remarkable strength of character, devotion and wise parenting, the Nears have created a personal habitat of shared respect and deep connections.

i Irene and Ken are diligent to identify and secure resources that lead to greater economic, health, employment and educational opportunities for family members.

h Both Irene and Ken live economically and creatively to prepare for their daughters’ future education and their own professional development.

g Their eldest daughters Meredith and Sara have begun their first year at Fayetteville State University and Peace College, respectively, and the youngest daughter, Kate, is a student at Sanderson High School.

d The key to success in the Nears family is a happy and caring home atmosphere.

Read the text and tick how you feel about your family.

Time together

Strong families recognize that there are benefits and pleasures to be gained from time and activities together. By spending pleasant time together, families build a reserve of good feelings and are able to cope with personal and family crisis more effectively.

Family unity encourages families to create daily routines as well as special traditions and celebrations which affirm members, connect them to their family roots, and add fun to ordinary family events. What families do together does not matter as much as that they do something together that is mutually planned and enjoyable. Spontaneity, humor, wit, and fun are goals to work toward.

Family time does not come easily. The challenge is to manage and prioritize your time so that family time is possible. It:

• helps everyone to feel that they are important

• helps build family pride

• keeps the line of communication open between family members

• instills an appreciation of family

• helps family members prioritize and value family time

• can foster creativity and provide a fun-filled experience.

A quality that constantly appears in strong families is a feeling that they can depend on each other in “good” times and “bad” times. The sense of knowing that someone is always there for you helps individuals develop a well balanced self-esteem and a sense of individual worth. The key to success in building family unity is planning, perseverance, and flexibility. Your relationship with the members of your family is the foundation upon with your family is built. The stronger the foundation is, the more strength you can draw from it.