the green eyed girl (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jandyle) wrote,@ 2007-11-21 07:58:00 |
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On siblings and family
I'm an only child.
Yes, I have my lil'sis and my lil'bro, neighbor kids that I used to babysit who I adopted into my family nearly 19 and 17 years respectively (i.e. when they were born). But when it comes down to it, I really am an only child.
Recently my dad has been emailing out some football related jokes and such and he sent the email to me and all of his eight surviving siblings. As they "reply all" in their email chains I've been privy to watching the playful sibling banter zipping through emails for the last couple of weeks.
I get to see them tease my Dad about his recent birthday and getting older; I see everyone sign the emails with numbers next to their names by birth order, counting the sibling that no one knew who died after only a few days of life. I read with a smile when I see words and phrases that only make sense in our family show up: oh'tay-emma, Seeya't'th'winda. I laugh at their inside jokes that I only sort of know the stories behind, and smile at their goofy intentional misspellings of each others' names: Doan, Madge, Paud.
Growing up this was the family with which we spent the Thanksgiving holiday. Nothing could keep us from getting there. I vividly remember the year that we had such a bad snow storm that we drove down the freeway with both of my parents leaning out the windows and brushing snow off the windshield with snow brushes; the wipers couldn't come close to keeping up. I remember new cousins nearly every year, the amount of food we had to cook to feed that many people stretching the limits of even the biggest kitchens. I remember going with a few aunts, uncles, and cousins to see Bowling for Columbine the day after Thanksgiving when I was in college. I remember the elation and heartbreak of many football games. I remember cheesy jokes, and laughing so hard my stomach hurt. I remember how we used to have a second family get-together the day after thanksgiving to eat leftovers together. Sometimes that party was bigger than the actual Thanksgiving dinner. We just couldn't get enough of each other, our family always has so much fun.
I haven't been to that family Thanksgiving since 2004, and I don't expect I'll go again anytime soon, if ever. Thanksgiving is a holiday we spend with T's family. But even if I don't get to go to anymore, I'm more thankful than I can possibly express for the wonderful family I've been blessed with. I can honestly say that I really like every person in my extended family as people, just as much (if not more) than I love them as family. If I wasn't related to them, I'd want to be friends with each and every one of them. And for that, I'm eternally grateful.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
I'm an only child.
Yes, I have my lil'sis and my lil'bro, neighbor kids that I used to babysit who I adopted into my family nearly 19 and 17 years respectively (i.e. when they were born). But when it comes down to it, I really am an only child.
Recently my dad has been emailing out some football related jokes and such and he sent the email to me and all of his eight surviving siblings. As they "reply all" in their email chains I've been privy to watching the playful sibling banter zipping through emails for the last couple of weeks.
I get to see them tease my Dad about his recent birthday and getting older; I see everyone sign the emails with numbers next to their names by birth order, counting the sibling that no one knew who died after only a few days of life. I read with a smile when I see words and phrases that only make sense in our family show up: oh'tay-emma, Seeya't'th'winda. I laugh at their inside jokes that I only sort of know the stories behind, and smile at their goofy intentional misspellings of each others' names: Doan, Madge, Paud.
Growing up this was the family with which we spent the Thanksgiving holiday. Nothing could keep us from getting there. I vividly remember the year that we had such a bad snow storm that we drove down the freeway with both of my parents leaning out the windows and brushing snow off the windshield with snow brushes; the wipers couldn't come close to keeping up. I remember new cousins nearly every year, the amount of food we had to cook to feed that many people stretching the limits of even the biggest kitchens. I remember going with a few aunts, uncles, and cousins to see Bowling for Columbine the day after Thanksgiving when I was in college. I remember the elation and heartbreak of many football games. I remember cheesy jokes, and laughing so hard my stomach hurt. I remember how we used to have a second family get-together the day after thanksgiving to eat leftovers together. Sometimes that party was bigger than the actual Thanksgiving dinner. We just couldn't get enough of each other, our family always has so much fun.
I haven't been to that family Thanksgiving since 2004, and I don't expect I'll go again anytime soon, if ever. Thanksgiving is a holiday we spend with T's family. But even if I don't get to go to anymore, I'm more thankful than I can possibly express for the wonderful family I've been blessed with. I can honestly say that I really like every person in my extended family as people, just as much (if not more) than I love them as family. If I wasn't related to them, I'd want to be friends with each and every one of them. And for that, I'm eternally grateful.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
