Relationships with (your) parents

I grew up with two sides of a very different family. Mum is one of four girls, she was born in England and my grandfather was in the airforce. So they are ultra conservative, I'd almost go so far as to say sheltered.
Dad on the other hand comes from a big Irish Catholic family with a history of alcoholism so Xmas etc. with them was always a big boozy occasion and inevitably my uncles ended up fistfighting. But they were (and are) staunchly loyal to each other whenever one of them are in trouble.
I hardly see my Dads family at all now, partly coz they're scattered all over the place, but mostly because I don't like all the fighting and drinking and knowing they are talking behind my back. When I had Maya they all rushed up to Birthcare to visit even tho I hadn't seen them for months coz they wanted to see what the "half-caste kid" looked like. Yet whenever my kids have been sick or I've needed some support I never hear a word from them. So when the gremlins were born I made it very clear that I was not having them treat my babies like a freak show to stare at and wouldn't let them visit.
Mum's family, on the other hand, are great. My aunty came all the way down from Whangarei to be with me when Sienna had her kidney surgery, and we've just spent a week on the Gold Coast with my grandparents.
Whew, how long winded am I! I guess the short answer is no, my relationship with my parents isn't the same as the one my parents had with my grandparents, but thats not neccessarily a bad thing. Change is good. And sometimes the things that we remember from childhood are exactly that - a childs view. For example, we used to think my dad's dad was awesome, he always took me and my cousins to McDonalds for my birthday. But as an adult I've found out that he was an alcoholic who beat my nana and his kids, and that he would promise to take me to McDonalds for my birthday but my parents would end up having to take us coz he'd forget he'd promised and go to the RSA instead. In a way I kinda wish I'd never found out, my memories are happy ones and it's kinda ruined the romance of it for me.