Fam Time. Idaho style.

The weekend before my induction my family came up to visit for the weekend. Considering where we live, we had limited options of things to do since they aren’t too interested in farming or the family dollar store in town. We made the most of every minute including a trip to the arcade, pumpkin patch and sandwich shop. 

The best part though had nothing to do with the tickets at the arcade. The best part was just lurping around, crowded in my living room talking and being together.  Anyone that knows my family knows that there are a few things in common. 1. We all married introverts (so far). 2. We are all fairly (and by fairly I mean foghorn level) loud. 3. We all like to laugh hard. 4. We all like to be together. Besides those four things, there is pretty much nothing else in common. I have four brothers and they couldn’t be more different. One is a fireman/former MMA fighter/cowboy. The other works at the MTC and is planning on law school. The third brother has red hair, works as a water treatment specialist and the only plan he ever makes is planning on having a good time. My youngest brother is the only non loud person in my family and beloved by everyone and has done everything from construction to making doughnuts at Kohlers.  My sister Em is one of the most organized mothers I have ever or will ever know. She is type AAA like the battery and I am type Z and don’t plan ahead for anything. My youngest sister is in beauty school and a senior in high school.  Sometimes I just look around and wonder how we all can enjoy each other so much when there are so few common denominators. I guess it doesn’t matter at all what you have in common with your family if the one thing you have in common is that you love to be together.  There really is no better feeling.   

Like Lilo and that psychotic mutant blue creature Stitch taught, “Family means no one gets left behind.” It also means you belong to something bigger than yourself. That you hurt and feel stressed when you know one of your siblings isn’t doing well. It means you stay up until 2 am playing super smash brothers because you don’t want to miss out. It means that you know that there are people on Earth who just get you because they are apart of you.  It means that even if you didn’t know about DNA or genetics, that you have people that understand your humor and that you have a mental food storage of shared memories like eating the cake mixes from the food storage room on Sunday, or midnight parties or playing lost kids in the dog kennel that no one else on Earth shares with you or can ever be recreated. Family is everything.