I am blessed to come from a somewhat larger family.
My Dad is one of six.
My Mom is one of 14 (13 lived to adulthood).
Together they had 6 children.
I am the baby. The oldest is almost 22 years older than me. So needless to say I have very different relationships with each members of my siblings. Of the 6 of us there is only 1 boy and he is in the middle.
My oldest sister and I almost have a Aunt/Niece relationship. I love her. I respect her and I am proud to call her my sister. We could easily sit and visit for hours.
My next oldest sister and mine relationship is a bit more strained. Nothing major, just really never had the opportunity to become overly close. She lives in Portugal for half the year and only about 4 hours away from me for the other half. I also love her. I also am very proud to be called her sister.
The next sister and I have a much more sister relationship. She is 15 years older than me and for years it was more of a mother/ daughter relationship but she had her babies late and I had mine young. Her youngest and my oldest are only 11 months apart in age. So we bonded then. I am thrilled that we only live 45 minutes apart but saddened that we never seem to get together for just a visit anymore. Live is too busy I guess.
Then comes my brother. He lives full time in Thailand. For years his relationship with the family was stressed. However as of late he is coming back. I missed him. He is my big bro and I love him. I was the one he had the patience to teach me how to climb backwards down the stairs so that I won't fall flat on my face, and taught me how to ride my first bike ( that he bought ).
Then is the sister next to me. Her and I have an entirely different relationship. There is 6 years separating us so growing up we definitely had the sister/ sister thing happening. I was the pain in the butt to her and she was my idol. Then we both grew up and things changed. We grew very close. We can easily talk on the phone for hours and hours. We are not afraid to share everything with each other. Yesterday I was texting her and she told me she loved me. She said that I was more than a sister I was her friend as well. Now I must tell you I teared up. We both have had interesting paths in this world but through it all we remained close.
I am so lucky and thankful for my somewhat large family.
I am thrilled with my relationship with each of my siblings and would not change a whole lot about it.
I am thankful that my sister took the time to tell me just how much I meant to her.
I am truly and thoroughly blessed.
I am trying something new today and linking up with Theresa at Red Oak Lane.
So thrilled to have you linking up to Thankful Thursday! I enjoyed learning more of your family dynamic. My husband has a similar story to yours. With siblings 20 some years older!
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Thank you for linking up with Thankful Thursday!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about your family. I come from a small family and always wished I had a larger family, it seems like so much fun!! It must be wonderful to have a sister that lives close--I hope you find more time to spend together, but I understand how hard it is to find time! My grandma lives 25 minutes away and I am always saying I need to get over there and I just never do :(
Great family shot! Wow, those are huge families! I love large families as well, the dynamics are just amazing to watch! Visiting from RedOak Lane
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