I am one of
those blessed individuals who comes from a big family. Scratch that - an enormous family. People who visited our home when I was growing up were known to have said: "You haven't lived
till you've had dinner at the Shortridges..." This statement was usually
followed with much maniacal laughter, or shuddering, or something or the other
that conveyed that something OUT OF THE ORDINARY was just experienced.
I like that
about my family.
And even
though there has been many a boyfriend who has run after meeting le familie - they were not made of the
stuff that would keep me interested for very long anyhow. (Husband, on the
other hand is a brave, brave and complex man.)
Being from a
big (sorry, enormous) family comes
with certain credentials. You grow up learning to share. You grow up learning
to be selfish. You grow up learning to fight. You grow up being different and
still the same. You grow up defending and protecting your brothers and sisters,
while still cutting your own path, viciously, precisely, determinedly and
deliberately. You grow up learning to align yourself to the group for the
greater good, adding your own expertise to the unspoken 'Kid Code' and thus
join forces with us (siblings) versus
them (parents). In short, or in
'Shortridge', you grow up learning to be your own person, to stand on your own
two feet, and to do it with the love and support of those closest to you in
blood, who all the while couldn't be further away in every other aspect. You
learn to love and appreciate variety.
There are 6
of us, 8 if you include Mom and Dad. 14 if you include spouses. 25 if you include
offspring. And more if you include aunts, uncles and cousins!. Christmas is a noisy,
busy and EXPENSIVE affair.
The thing I
love most about my family is how different we all are, breaking every mold of
'you are that way because of the parents'. If we were a school yard, we would
have the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, the goths, the hipsters, the cool
kids, the outcasts, and even the crazy christericals. We are a world in and of
ourselves. I can not speak for the rest of the 24 immediates, but I love this
melting-pot-spicy-variety-of-life existence that is dinner at the Shortridges.
I think it
is why I love people so much. ALL people. When I meet someone new, (Voodoo doll
collector; Tea junkie; Ex-door to door salesman; Serial marathoner; Unlikely
billionaire; Man-hating door-lady; Poetry-master-come-electrician...) I just
want to know them and enjoy them. I LOVE the variety!
Have you
heard the joke that goes Mom, Dad, Averil, Paul, Grant, Brian, Laura, Tim,
Shannon, Anna, Cat, Bruce, Brandon, Julie, Amber, Adam, Mary, Joshua, Rachel,
Alex, Noa, Tannith, David, Morgaine and myself walk into a bar? No? You haven't?
Well, then
you are officially invited to the next family dinner.
Love, lust and fairy-star-dust
Cherry Blossom
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