Family Life Gets Some Well-Deserved Praise

Published July 25, 1985. Orem may be on its way to gaining recognition, not only locally but even across the state and the nation. Last week the city sponsored its first Family City, USA celebration.

The city of Orem, and those responsible for the four-day celebration, should be commended. We seem to celebrate or give recognition to just about everything else in this country. Why not families? And what better place is there in the nation than Orem, Utah, indeed a family-oriented community?

Norm Nielsen, director of the Scera Park Corporation, conceived the idea and shared it with me last fall. Norm commented, “We train for everything else in life. Why not have some place where we can go and get training on various aspects of family life?” His good idea became a reality last week.

While we are on the subject of families, Dolores Curran recently wrote a book titled “Traits of a Healthy Family.” She interviewed several hundred people, professionals and non-professionals alike, and a consensus emerged in the United States.

According to Dolores Curran, here are 15 traits of a healthy family. 

1. The healthy family communicates and listens. 
2. Fosters table time and conversation. 
3. Affirms and supports one another. 
4. Teaches respect for others. 
5. Develops a sense of trust. 
6. Has a sense of play and humor. 
7. Has a balance of interaction among members. 
8. Shares leisure time. 
9. Exhibits a sense of shared responsibility. 
10. Teaches a sense of right and wrong. 
11. Has a strong sense of family in which rituals and traditions abound. 
12. Has a shared religious core. 
13. Respects the privacy of one another. 
14. Values service to others. 
15. Admits and seeks help when there are problems.

What do you think of Delores Curran’s Traits of a Healthy Family? How is your own family doing? How are we doing, in general, in our neighborhoods and local areas? If Family City, USA becomes an annual event, and I hope it does, we might improve the family health in our local communities, in Utah, and perhaps even in the nation. Who knows what the results might be? Congratulations to Norm, the Scera staff, Orem city employees and administrators, and all others involved in the first Family City, USA.