I consider myself to be a very blessed individual! Throughout my life I have always been surrounded by supportive and loving people. Without these people, people that have given me reason to go on, my life may have turned out very different. I owe a lot of myself to them, who knows what my life could have turned out like? The most important people in my life are my family. My parents who are still married, my sister Robin, my brother Joe, and I are very close. My sister is married with two kids and my brother is married with three. Since I am the baby and as of yet do not have any kids of my own, I consider all five of them mine. We are a crazy, loud, and very happy family. All of these characteristics are passed down from previous generations.
My dad Joseph comes from a large family he has nine sisters and four brothers. Having that many children seems unreal to me. My Grandma Stella had a total of seventeen children, but three of them passed when they were little. As for my Grandpa Horacio, he passed when my Dad was only four years old. I would have really liked to have met him. I have only ever seen one picture of my Grandpa. The picture is black and white and makes him look very interesting. My Grandma Stella never remarried, she said “He is my husband and he will be waiting for me” she only ever loved him. And she waited for forty five years to join him in heaven. It’s kind of funny to me that I still get my aunts names confused well considering that there are still nine of them and I haven’t seen much of them since my Grandma passed away. If you want to talk about loud just get them all together, it is very amusing to watch as they laugh, fight, and sing the night away. Ok, so now we can add my mother’s side of the family who are also very loud with all the laughing and fighting.
My mother Anita has five sisters and two brothers. My uncle Ronnie passed away when I was very young. I vaguely remember him, I know he used to play poker with us kids and I remember he had a jar of pennies that we would play with. We always spent a lot of time at my Grandpa’s house; I always felt it was my home too. The house was filled with beautiful gold framed pictures and mirrors, comfortable rocking chairs, and one of those classic TV’s built into a wooden box that sat on the floor, the kind with a knob you twisted to change the channel. That house always smelled so clean with the aroma of some great meal grandma was preparing mixed in. And you could hear the sound of Grandpa watching whatever boxing match that was on at that time. My mom was very close to her mom as were my sister, brother, and I. Grandma did also have a way of always babying my father to. She babied me the most, I can still hear the sound of her scratchy voice saying “ Anita you leave her alone” whenever my Mom tried to make me help clean up the dishes or sweep the floor.
My chores usually only usually consisted of making coffee, or tang, or helping my Grandma cook. It was always one of my favorite things to help her cook. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my grandma, my mother, my sister, and which ever aunts and/or cousins were there at the time. We made everything from empanadas which are fun to make but not one of my favorite foods, to lemon merange pie. We had some great times in that kitchen cooking and talking. And after all the mess was cleaned up Grandma and I always played a game of cards, while the adults drank their coffee and had dessert. I even cherish the memories of when we used to get yelled at my cousin Grant and I, when we would run through the house playing and fighting.
We used to wrestle all the time the older kids picking on the little ones. I think it made us tougher when we grew up. Grant and I were the youngest of all the grand children, and oh how we got picked on and it didn’t matter where we were. My sister Robin is eight years older than we are, and when you are little that age difference is a lot. Robin used to be so mean to us we used to have a small linen closet at my house. My mother kept all the towels on one of the higher shelves, so I would have to climb up the shelves to get one. This was great for my sister because as soon as I climbed up she would close the door. With no room to move I would be stuck hanging on to the shelf until she stopped laughing long enough to open the door. My sister the sweet one! My mother never believed any of the things that she used to do to us because she was so timid and nice, or so they thought.
We get along great now she is my best friend, but let me tell you when we were little she sure had her fun. My brother and I also did a lot of fighting and that’s ok it’s what brothers and sisters do. We may have always had our differences, but we are always there for one another. It’s remarkable to feel the kind of bond that only family can provide you with. That kind of bond is unbreakable and is passed down through the generations. I like to sit and watch as my niece and nephews run around my mother’s house getting yelled at for playing and fighting. Watching them play takes me back to when I was little and I can only hope that the kids will cherish their memories half as much as I do mine.
That is what it’s like coming from al large family. We are mean to one another, we fight, we play, we cook, we talk, we run around crazy, and I would never trade any of it. “Friends come and go but at the end of the day the only ones you can count on are your family!” I know that I have heard that before and I believe it. You know I think that my kids have taught me way more than I have ever been able to teach them. My mom says that that when I finally have kids of my own that I am already ready. I don’t know about that but I we do spend a lot of time together. Kids are the most vital part of a family. It just doesn’t feel like home unless I have the running and screaming and someone jumping on me. I may have children one day but if not then I feel as though I already have my children.
