You Kids Stop Teasing Her!

The bittersweet quality of funerals is the chance to see relatives again -- some that we haven't seen in years and years. So at my mom's funeral this month, after shedding tears, it was wonderful to reunite with my family. I couldn't possibly show all the far-flung relatives in a blog post, so I chose just a few shots, and wanted to share one story with you.

Here's me with my sisters:Yes, I'm TOTALLY taller than them. I remind them of that fact regularly!

And then one of those rare shots of the first cousins (our kids) together. Missing in this photo is Cameron, who didn't make the trip, --- and Brandon, who is on his mission in Jamaica (of course!)

(Don't you just love how all the cousins are either adults, or at least age 14 & up -- except Emma -- the toddler who is technically part of this generation!!)

And before I show you the Final Four..... a quick story for you.

I am the youngest of my siblings, and they have often teased me that I don't really look like them. This teasing was at its worst when I was little, and shall we say .... gullible. After all it was much more fun to tease me when I actually believed what they told me. They would tell me that I was too skinny, and didn't have the round face that was typical of our family. This was true enough. And then, they would tell me that I had been adopted.

Much upset about this, I would run to my mom, crying, "Mom! Mom! They said I was adopted!!"

As my sister Cheryl likes to say, Mother was not interested in Justice. Mother was interested in Silence. And so, in answer to this, my dear mother would turn to my siblings and say.....

"You kids stop teasing her!"

Never a word to me about adoption or the falsehood thereof. It left me with a question in my young mind about my ancestry. Later, I had my parentage confirmed in my mind, as I looked through our family history records & found my name there with the others.

So take a look at me with my siblings..... and what do you think? Do I look like them, or not?

One of the things that I love the most about my family, is that not only do we love each other, we also LIKE each other. Months of separation melt away when we are together again, and we can pick right back up where we left off the last time. We can banter and joke together like we had only seen each other yesterday. I'm truly thankful for a family like mine.

(This is us with our spouses too)

I hope that with the coming years, we can remain close to one another, and continually work to strengthen our family's bonds. I love you guys!!