Famn Damily

I have a very big family; four brothers and two sisters, 11 nephews and nieces, seven grandnephews and nieces and one more on the way. I'd list the number of first cousins and first cousins once removed and second cousins and second cousins once....oh never mind! Point is, there's a bunch of us and we continue to procreate at a dangerously fast rate --- and we all love it! Each little person is cuter than the next! There's so much joy in my family it really is wonderful!

Don't get me wrong. We have had a good share of hardship. I mean, we're the size of a small town in Alaska for Pete's sake so there's bound to be times when we just can't beat the odds! There have been battles with addiction, divorce, unemployment, illness; but where other families have been torn apart by many of these events, mine has become more tightly knit.

We're not calling each and every sibling every day to check in, but we've got a pretty good grapevine going so we're all pretty in tune with what's happening to whom and when or why. I talk to my sister who talks to my other sister who emails my brother who Facebooks with my other brother who calls my other brother who...wait, I lost myself...anyway, bottom line is, we're all eventually in each other's business and usually it's a welcomed trespass.

I consider myself very lucky; always have. I remember proudly telling my Kindergarten teacher that I had six brothers and sisters and could name them all, in order of birth, first and middle names. Very impressive! That's a LOT of information for a little kid to remember! Oh, and by the way, I'm the youngest (didn't appreciate that fact until I was much MUCH older!) They were all very nice to me growing up even though they'll all tell you what a brat I was (hmmmm...) I remember one night shortly before Christmas, I couldn't have been more than five years old or so, a few of the older sibs came in to my room and woke me up to show me all the things that I was going to give as Christmas presents. They went shopping for me! I don't know if they paid for those things themselves or if my parents gave them the money for it, but it doesn't matter. To this day the thought of it moves me and fills me with love.

I think my parents did a great job. They taught us how to love, forgive, laugh, and appreciate each other. They taught by example by loving and appreciating each other until the day my father died.

I love my family. I'm very proud of my family. My family has and will have to face problems small and big and it seems the older we all get, the bigger the problems are, or at least seem to be. The grapevine will buzz and fall quiet at times. We will get wrapped up in our own spouses and children and slip out of touch for a while but never for a long while. There will be weddings and births and graduations and death. There will be times of joy and times of hardship. But there will always always be someone there for someone else...always.

No matter how we grew up and what we grew up into, we love each other. We may not always like each other or understand personal decisions made, but we love each other. Period.

~Eileen Cassidy Bishop