Today I am linking up with Kelly’s Korner for her Friday Feature of “Show Us Your Life”. I have been a reader of Kelly’s blog for years but this is the first link up I have ever done. The topic of showing your family resonated with me. It is to show and share about the family you grew up in…
which truly is an amazing family for me.
I am the oldest of four children.
But for many years I was an only child. I was the lone child surrounded by my parents, grandpas, grandmas, uncles and aunts.
I had dear friends and cousins that were close in age to me. Our relationships were like sibling bonds and remain that way today.
After years of being an only child through painful struggles and loss for my parents, we were blessed with the healthy arrival of my brother Robbie in 1985.
I was the most proud big sister. Within just a few years, little sister Kirsti arrived and then little Joe arrived. They were miracles and blessings.
We grew up in a family full of fun, rooted in faith, discipline, education, sports and music.
When I became young, single mother, my family rallied around me and most importantly around my son, Hunter.
The experiences we shared brought us closer together and it was my son who cemented a tighter bond between us than anything we had shared before as a family.
As our family grew and changed through the years…the family bond we share has evolved and grown.
We are amazingly connected and close.
Today Robbie is a teacher and coach. Kirsti is a public relations professional. Joe is in his third year of college. I will always be the older sister but my siblings despite being younger all became taller than me! Despite our “growing up” and marriages for my sister and me, all of us have remained in our home state of North Dakota, a rare feat in our sparsely populated, rural state. We each live within driving distance of the family farm where my parents, grandparents and uncles live.
It is when we gather all together that I am truly reminded of the immense impact my family has had in molding me into the woman I am today. My husband has reminded me many times that our family is rare. We are often big in numbers…and in height. We are trusted, loyal friends and have generations alongside one another on Sunday after church on the farm eating at my parent’s dining room table, or sitting at basketball games together or gathering for a family celebration.
Through it all, we stick together.
What is your favorite attribute about your family?
Wow. Truly a rarity in these days of scattered seeds to the wind. What a wonderful, multi-generational bond you have there! Glad your kids get to experience it too!
What a great story. Love the picture of everyone in orange!!!
Love all the pictures! Its always fun to go back and look at all the family memories! Happy Friday!
Really a great post. Nice to see a loving, supportive family!