I love my siblings.  Actually, I love each and every member of my family. The thing about me and my siblings, though, is that we all seem to share the same silly characteristics.  Whether we are all together or just two of us talking, somehow a blast from the past becomes a part of the conversation and the hilarity begins.

My siblings and I have a relationship that I cherish.  Growing up, we had to rely a lot on each other for support.  I was the oldest and had the most household responsibility and I know that my siblings respect me for that today.  But, I don’t know if they realize just how much their presence in my life, means to me.  I have what I think is a bizarre sense of humor, and I know that my siblings, Lance, Brad, Donna and Brian played a large part in its development.

Being the oldest of this little group taught me to be responsible.  Being the oldest meant I got the chance to be a role-model (not that I knew it at the time), but it meant that I had to be a good girl, a good sister. Being the oldest helped me be a good mother when that time came. This does not mean that I was a model sister all of the time, because being the oldest also meant that I got the chance to drive my little sister batty.  Like the times I would hide her shoes (that makes me laugh right now), and she would run to mom and scream.  I did that a lot.  Today, Donna claims she has an obsession about keeping her shoes aligned properly in her closet.  So funny!

Well, now we are all grown up, but we are still silly, we still laugh a lot together.  We are also still extremely close, though one of us, Lance, has passed on.  However, the fact that I have recently begun this new chapter in my life, that of being a writer, means that a lot of my time will be spent at my computer, but, wait a minute, now that I am thinking of this I realize, my siblings are sitting right here with me, because without them, I would not be who I am today, able to sit here and pursue my dream.