As often as I travel, one may assume I don't have any family. My friends across Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, as dear as they are, have never met any of my family. For the first time in 15 years, all six of us would convene for Mother's Day. Rather fitting, because my mother was always convinced the next time we'd all be together is at her funeral; I was determined to not let that happen.
Many of my friends are an only child or have just one sibling, but I'm fortunate to be one of seven children. It's complicated because Sonya has a different mother to the rest of us and I have a different father (whom I've never met). However, we've always thought of ourselves as one family with no "step" or "half" labels.
My mother once described us as a "fruit salad" because we're all different. It's not uncommon for a doctor to have three sons and then all of them become doctors but no two of us work in the same profession or have the same interests. What I like about us as a family is that we don't need much to keep us afloat and we make things happen when they count. Furthermore, we're always there for each other regardless of our differences, finances, or how far apart we are from one another.
Dannielle has a degree in graphic design and is the manager of a pizza restaurant in downtown LA. Whilst I grew up the fanatical gamer in my family, she's the video game connoisseur now. My video games have been passed down to her. She and her fiance, Ryan are getting married in October.
Sean is my only brother. He's the artist of the family with a body full of tattoos and is a project manager for a construction company. He and I fought often as kids and we're as different as two brothers can be. As one family member noted, Sean "lacks my charisma" and prefers his fast car and XBox over seeing the world and going out.
Ashley has a degree in business from Temple University and works at a law firm in Philadelphia. In my mother's words, she's the prima donna of the family. She is also the only of my siblings to have a passport.
Jennifer is the animal lover and free-spirit of the family, and works at Starbucks. She would like to someday open her own coffee shop. She's always been the smallest of all of us, so I've always enjoyed picking her up and carrying her around.
Maelea is the "entertainer" and happy-go-lucky member of the family. She's the one who ensures our family is filled with love.
When you look at all of us, we are all very different. In a way we're all alike, and we can be apart for months or years at a time yet pick up on a conversation as if it happened yesterday. When I think about it, I have a family. Not just a family, but a fantastic family! I certainly wouldn't have my life or my family any other way.
