This Is My Family

I am the second oldest of six kids. I am a very lucky person to be able to call these people that I love my brothers and sisters. They are all great people.

My oldest sister, LaDonna, is one of my heroes. I always looked up to her when I was little. She was the one that taught me to read before I started school. It was because of her that I got to skip kindergarten and go straight to first grade. She was my first best friend. As we got older, we fought like cats and dogs – just like most siblings. We grew apart a little. But through all of our moves across the country, I knew I could always count on her to be around. After our dad died when she was twelve and I was eleven, things changed between us. She grew up much faster than I. But I still knew that she would be there for me if I needed her.

When she was fifteen she gave birth to her first son. A year later, her second son. She dropped out of school to be a mom. She didn’t have much of a choice. Although she and the father of her sons had some troubles, they made things work out and soon they were married. A few years later a daughter joined the family. My sister and brother-in-law will celebrate their thirtieth anniversary soon. My sister got her GED and then a college degree after running a day care from her home for more than twenty years. She is still my hero!

LaRina is my next sister. She is about three and a half years younger than me. She was always the adorable little sister that everyone always loved. She was beautiful and smart and funny. She was a tough little girl. I remember when she learned to ride a motorcycle when she was only two. She would perform cheers and songs and dances for family and friends. Everyone loved her – including me.

We fought a lot – just like LaDonna and I, but she was also my baby sister. I had to help take care of her. No one ever told me that, it was just something I did. She was only eight when our dad died, and she didn’t remember him much. The summer after he passed away, she and I had many adventures with our friends in our little rural neighborhood. We lived two miles outside of town, but in a neighborhood of about twenty small homes. Our best friends and us would explore the creeks and fields around us and often walked the two miles into town to have more adventures. A few years later we would continue the adventures in and around Springfield, Missouri. With our mom working a lot and on the road often, we were often alone and would walk all over Springfield, down to the mall and the movie theaters and through the town to the swimming pool.

A couple of years later I got married and started my family and, sadly, left my sweet sister behind. I missed out on the next few years of her life. The next thing I know, she was getting married and soon had a daughter of her own. She had also become a physical therapy assistant. After a few years, she was brave enough to realize her marriage wasn’t working and decided to get a divorce. She then worked hard for her daughter. For a while, she was also a foster parent – giving her best to children who needed her. She also went on to buy a house for her daughter and her. Her proudest moment was when she watched her daughter graduate high school and go on to college. She is still my sweet little sister who everyone loves.

My next sister and brothers joined our family when my mother married their father. This happened after I had married, so I didn’t get to know them very well at first. They were awesome to my children who proudly called them “Aunt” and “Uncle.”

Jay is the oldest of these three. He is pretty awesome. He joined the Army and went off to Saudi Arabia for the first Gulf War. He did and does everything for our parents, often going out to their home to clean up and mow the five acres. He married – then divorced – married – again divorced – and married again – the mother of his beautiful daughter. This woman had a daughter from a previous marriage that Jay took in and loved as much as if she were his own.

Julie is the next one. When I first met Julie, she was LaRina’s best friend. It was mostly because of her and LaRina that her dad married our mom. It was a perfect match and I am glad that she “pushed” them into getting married. She soon married Kenny and became the mom to four wonderful sons. She is a leader in the small town she lives in. As a real estate agent, she has sold many of the homes in the area while being the “perfect” mom – attending all school and sports functions that her sons were involved in – and there were many. Last year she was named “Citizen of the Year” in her small town. She is one busy lady and I couldn’t be more proud to call her my sister.

The youngest in our family is Jimmy. My daughters thought the world of Jimmy when they were little. He was still young enough to be the “cool” uncle and would play with them and tease them whenever they were together. Soon Jimmy met and married a woman with two young sons. They added two children to the family. I am sad to say that I do not know Jimmy as well as his brother and sister because circumstances have kept us apart. I do know that he, too, is awesome and I am glad to call him my brother.

I am lucky to have this wonderful family. I am proud to be able to call them my friends, as well as my family.