Do you have that family member, or group of them, that you don't see very often? The ones that if you run into them at the family reunion, you are able to sit down and just talk the day away, while at the same time, not knowing much about them at all? Yeah, that's what I thought, we all do. Well, a family reunion is one thing, but three days with them is something totally different.
A little about my family. I come from a blended family. Two divorcee's who already had children of their own. My father had myself and two other sons. My stepmother had three sons and one girl. There really has never been a "this is my step-...." mentality. These are my brothers and sister.These people are our family. I love each of them, mainly for the uniqueness that each has. We each have different view points on life, and we have learned to embrace what differences that we have. A little about each....
J: 40 yo brother who is an RN, but at one point was an EMT and firefighter. He has a wife and three children, two girls, one boy. He is a great father who has helped raise some awesome kids.
J: 38 yo brother who helps run a national communications company. He has a wife and three kids as well. Two girls and one boy. I've looked up to him for many years. He is quick with a laugh and a wonderful listener who doesn't judge and offers great insight from an outsiders view
A: 34 yo sister. Her and her husband own their own big rig mechanic business. She is married to my favorite brother in law and have one boy and one girl. We had differences when growing up. We raised our voice a time or two at each other without a doubt. She is someone I love. Christine and I have discussed that if anything happened to us and to my sister in law Dawn, that we would want A to take care of our girls. She is that good.
J: 34 yo brother. He is a SFC in the national guard and works as a recruiter. I hope sometimes, that I am one of the reasons he joined the service. You know, the whole following big brother thing. I wish i had been a 1/4 of the soldier that he is. He has done several tours overseas. He is single and has two beautiful girls. We don't see each other much, but when we do, it seems like only a day has passed when we last talked. Best storyteller I have ever met.
D: 33yo brother. New Orleans police officer. He is engaged with four boys. Yep four. D was injured during a police pursuit two yeas ago when the suspect T-boned his cruiser. He was named officer of the month three times in one calendar year. He was good at what he did. He is no longer able to serve due to his injuries. He is the asshole of the family. He comes up with one liners and zingers that are truly awesome.
M: 33yo brother. He is a produce manager at a supermarket. He is married and has four kids, two and two. My brother is a unique individual. He is a wonderful dad. He is the one family member you just have to meet, because words can't express him.
These are my brothers and sister. We know each other. We hang with each other. We laugh, play, pray, cry and love each other. This is the life, the family we are use to.
Then there is my cousin B. He is 34yo and lives in Boston. He works with computer and is a non meat eater. He hasn't fired a weapon since he was five years old. He has never picked food from a country sized garden. He grew up an hour outside of Houston, TX and an hour outside of San Fransisco. It is safe to say he is a city boy. This weekend, he brought along his girlfriend (a Harvard educated lawyer and fellow city girl) to the family farm near Brookhaven. This was a weekend that I think may have changed the way he looked at family. He has one brother who is the total opposite of him. His father is a very matter of fact person. His mom is a wonderful woman who fits in well with us and we are happy she is part of this family. B though, well Im not sure any of us were sure where he fit in, him included. I am very happy to say I learned quite a few things about him over the last few days. He is a great storyteller, which is a trait in this family. While he didn't know our grandfather as well as we did, he admired him greatly. He enjoys being part of something bigger than just his parents and brother.
This weekend, was a time of laughs and fun. Anytime you can gather with your family, it should be a joyous time. (I wish Christine could have been there all three days, but she was off seeing South Pacific on stage) This weekend, it was different, but in a very good way. While B has been our cousin, I believe it was these last few days, that he became family. He is a welcomed addition to our family, and I hope we showed him that. If B is reading this, I hope you know that any of us are here if you ever need help with anything. We may not be the wealthiest of people, but you are us, and if its the shirt off of our back that you need, then it is yours. I hope you felt welcome being around us. I know we can be crazy sometimes, but that is the wonderful part about family, you can be crazy and loved none the less.
I hope we didn't scare him away with our crazy ways. I hope he will consider making this a yearly excursion. I know he would be more than welcome any time.
Its great to have a family as wonderful as mine. My wife, my children. My parents and my brothers and sisters. I am blessed.
Gabe
P.S. The part about snakes....you see, B's gf M isn't the biggest fan of snakes. Sooooooooooo we were asked not to mention that a 5 ft rattler had been killed a couple of days before they arrived. As a gift to M, my brother M had cut the rattles off and presented it to her right before she left. Well, thats how it happened in life, but we are hoping she shares with her friends how she stared down that rattlesnake and took a Kaiser blade too it.
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