It's been said that you can choose your friends, you can choose your wife, but you can't choose your family. Well, mine isn't perfect, perhaps even far from it. But I get what I need from what I've been given and for that I wouldn't change a thing. My parents are separated since December (around Christmas) of 1993, and divorced a year or so later, if I remember correctly. I am the oldest of three siblings, having a sister who is two years and a brother who is 11 years younger than me.
Mom:
My mom is a beautiful and feminine woman who has been through a lot
in her life. Granted, she's never starved for days or been through
a war, at least that I know of, but for starters she's been through a bitter
and painful divorce from my dad. She had to put up with me as a son,
which was especially painful as a teen-ager and older. She spent
nine years raising two kids who were two years apart (my sister and I)
with very little help from my dad who was working most of the time.
Then she had to raise my brother too, who was even worse than me, even
as a single mother since he was nine. My mom couldn't care less for
learning about the news, international history, adding technology of any
kind to her lifestyle, expanding her knowledge of language, math, music,
etc. She is concerned with three things in life, in this order: God,
her family, and her health. She is ceasless in her pursuit of expanding
her knowledge and experience in those regards. She is also the most
emotional and expressive woman I have ever met. To her credit, she
has done her best to sacrifice for us and take care of us as our mom.
Dad:
My dad is a retired cop. I mention that first because work has
always defined my dad above all other things, working side jobs after regular
work hours, putting in 60+ hours of work per week until his retirement
from the police force three years ago. He was also the leader of
and/or involved with many community organizations. Between his excessive
work habits, divorcing my mom, then moving further and further away from
us, my primary gripe is that I wish he would have spent more time with
us growing up. He seemed to thoroughly enjoyed the manly aspect of
police work, telling us many stories of his confontations with the dregs
of society. To his credit, he is one of the smartest, manliest, most
fun men I have ever met. He has also continuously made an effort
to verbally encourage his children, inspiring us to strive to be whatever
we want in life. I have always been proud to introduce him as my
dad.
Sister:
My sister Caryn and I have always been close to one another, at least
when we lived under the same roof. Now we only see each other once
or twice a month, usually for family events. When dating, she was
the standard by which I judged other girls. While at first that may
sound kind of twisted, it's because she's smart (same IQ as me), pretty
(all of my friends fell head over heals for her), witty, approachably humble,
and spiritual too. The only female I've ever met that can compare
to her is my wife.
Brother:
My brother and I, even with the age difference, have also always been
close. He's not quite as open as my sister though. In fact,
sometimes getting information out of him about his life is like pulling
teeth, question by question. At 11 years younger, he's better than
me in virtually every regard than I was at his age, for pretty much every
stage of his life. He's gotten better grades, he's in better shape,
he's better looking, he's more independent. The only thing he's lacking,
in my opinion, is spirituality. Maybe all of the other things he
posesses are actually his downfall, preventing him from thinking about
and/or pursuing matters of higher purpose. Only God really knows
his heart though.
Unfortunatlely, I'm not as close to my siblings as I would like to be,
or as we might have once been when we were living together. I find
that as we grow older, we all establish our own lives, friends, and even
our own separate families. I've tried and will continue to make the
effort to remain close, but it's just so darned difficult.