"My Family"
Oh, what to say about my family? Best way to sum us up is we're crazy. I mean, absolutely, batty! But, we're the fun kind of crazy. We're always laughing and giving each other a hard time because that is how we show affection. It throws people off who do not know us that well but they either get used to it or ignore us.
I am the oldest of two. And, somewhere in the middle with my cousins. A good chunk of us are pretty close. Every family has issues so I'm not even going to pretend we're perfect and get along all the time. There are even some people we don't talk to. Either they've cut ties or it was mutual. But, that's depressing so I won't get into that. :)
For the sake of not writing a book, I'll just talk about my immediate family and pet. First, of course, is my parents. They are where I get my crazy from. My sister and I take after them in our own ways. I look like my mom. Brown hair, green eyes, fairer complexion. I think I have the height from my dad's family. Although, my mom's family has a wide range of heights. But, there are stories of ancestors in Europe on my dad's side being over 7 feet tall. My sister looks more like our dad. Big, dark brown eyes and dark, thick, hair with this wonderful natural wave to it that I envy to no end. (Mine is thin and stick straight, partly because of my various health issues) My mom and I are quieter and more passive than Dad and Sis. But, the thing about quiet, passive people is don't mistake the quiet for weakness. Because, if you push us too far, look out. It's Volcano Day in Pompeii. We've both had our incidents where this has happened and we really shock people when it happens. Whereas Dad and Sis will tell you right off if they have an issue with you. Dad is a former police officer and a great natural judge of character.
Both my parents have been tremendously supportive my whole life. They encouraged me to join musical theater when I was a preteen. Mainly because I was very shy. They wanted to help get me out of my shell a bit. I still have my moments when I'm around a new group where I clam up but it helped and I have a love of music and theater that will be lifelong. They also helped me so much during my rough days where I was being bullied in junior high. And, they have encouraged my writing my whole life. I changed my major several times while going to college. Mom knew that I always kept going back to writing in some form or another.
My folks are also great to party with! I had a small backyard party one year for my birthday and a girl I used to go to school with gave me a hard time about them being there. Well, first, I was using Dad's DJ equipment so he wasn't going to go anywhere in order to prevent something from happening to it. And, my parents are fun! New Years Eve is the highlight of the year. We invite a bunch of friends, Dad makes a ton of food, and we just hang out until 3 AM or later. He has one rule. If you're going to drink, unless you came with someone, he takes your keys. Driving with my mom is fun because she'll sing along with the radio with my sister and I and we'll pretend we were in a mother/daughter music group. She taught us how to car dance! When I was a teenager, my dad and I would wake up before the crack of dawn to go fishing. We'd drive out to "Our Spot" and stay there until lunchtime or we ran out of bait, talking about everything we could think of. That was just our time. Mom would go with us sometimes but she wasn't that into fishing. And Sis would set the worms free. But, they also took no crap from us girls, either. Dad's favorite line is "I've done everything you've done, thought about doing, or will do. We just called it something else."
Some people, especially those who know how snarky my father is, find it hard to believe he is a deacon of the Catholic Church. But, he is wonderful in his ministry and I think his no-sugarcoating way of speaking is more effective with people. He has even managed to bring people back to the Church. When he preaches, he relates Scripture to real life, either present day events or events in his life which connects to people really well.
My sister is my best friend. She is 5 years younger than me. We are pretty opposite in temperament and personality. And, we didn't always get along. When we were younger, we would fight like a pair of alley cats. Sometimes there was even bloodshed. Like the time I tried to prevent her from entering our room and I lost my grip on the door and fell into the nightstand. I still have a scar on my back where I cut myself on the corner of it. There was only one ER trip. We were playing ball in the front yard and she nailed me in the forehead with a line drive. (Girl's got a hell of an arm. She definitely got the athletics gene that skipped me) But, usually, after a couple hours of to cool off, we're back to giggles and being the best of friends again.
We are also very protective of each other. When I was going through a bad breakup a few years back, she had my back all the way. She wouldn't let me hide in my room. She called two of our mutual friends and we had a girls night. She helped me pick myself up and helped me learn to live for ME. She hasn't gone through anything as rough, but when I caught an acquaintance during my community college days checking her out (while she was still in high school) I made my displeasure quite clear. We laugh and cry together, although I cry more because I'm much more emotional. We give each other advice about a variety of issues. We tease and torment because that's what sisters do. We have mutual friends we spend time with when we can. Both our work schedules can be quite hectic but we make it work. She's great at doing hair. She comes up with great ideas and is usually able to pull it off. She's also a wonderful artist.
And, we can't forget her Highness, Princess Seige. (Pronounced Sage. Sis picked it) She is our 11 year old grumpy cat. She was my sister's cat but since she went off to college and has since moved out, the cat has latched on to Dad. She cries when he leaves or goes to bed. She has to be his shadow everywhere. She even squeezes between my parents while they're sitting on the couch watching TV at night. She doesn't like to be pet by anyone else. Unless she feels like it. If someone touches her when she's not in the mood, she'll go off and wash herself. When we had our dog, she would wait by the door for us to let him back in and then jump up and slap him in the face. She couldn't stand my cat, Sabrina, and so we had to keep them separate. No matter what we did in the 11 years they were together, they never got along. She is declawed, thankfully. But she has learned to compensate with her teeth. She doesn't like the boyfriends, but that's because they both tease her so it's a justified dislike.
So, that's my immediate family in a nutshell. I'll probably be talking more about them in the future as I continue with this challenge and general writing.
Have a good night!
Carey
